The Girl Raised by the Death God Holds the Sword of Darkness in Her Arms - Volume 1 - Chapter 4.2

II

The battle was underway.

War horns rang out over the beating of battle drums, as Olivia’s forces began their attack with a barrage of longbow shots. They didn’t seem to be doing much more than that, however.

“Seriously? They don’t even know the effective range of a longbow? It’s one thing to be scared, but they’re not going to hit anything from that far away,” scoffed one imperial soldier.

“I reckon they’re all new recruits—they don’t know the first thing about fighting a war.”

“They’ve got the war horns and the drumming down though,” chuckled a third soldier.

“Guess we’ll just have to go down there and show them how it’s done. I’ll take the lady soldiers!”

“And just what are you going to show them?” called another, and they all doubled up with laughter. They’d been sick with nerves right up until the battle began and they’d seen the royal army’s sloppy attempts at an attack. Their commander, Captain Thistle, knew how they felt, but it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to laugh along with them.

“Hey, pull yourselves together! They’re still far out, but we should be able to hit them with the ballista. So get to it!” he yelled. The soldiers scrambled to attention before running off towards the ballista mounted on the fort walls.

“All troops, fall back!”

The target of the soldiers’ mockery—Olivia’s forces—retreated back out of range of the ballista, defending themselves from its bolts with heavy shields. Not long after, they advanced, and began shooting from beyond their effective range again. This cycle of advance and retreat repeated several times more.

“Is this really going to work, Ashton? We might not lose any soldiers, but I can practically hear the imperials laughing at us,” Claudia said. She was watching the battle unfold through her spyglass.

“Oh, yeah, they probably are laughing at us. But we’ll get the last laugh when we win in the end, so I think we can ignore them,” replied Ashton, unconcerned. Olivia had given him a temporary promotion to tactician, so he was sharing command with Claudia.

“You’re not wrong, but as a knight, I don’t like fighting like this...” she said, then groaned with exasperation. “I still can’t believe this is your plan!”

Ashton’s plan went like this:

Forts constructed in the early warlord period always included a hidden passage for those inside to escape, usually letting out through an old well in the vicinity of the fort. That meant it could be used the other way around, sending people in from the well to access the interior of the fort. They would divide their forces in two—one group creating a distraction on the outside while the other waited until that chaos left a hole in the defenses that they could then exploit to get the gate unbarred. Once the bar was lifted, their forces could waltz right into Fort Caspar without hindrance.

What they were doing right now was merely a spectacle to draw the enemy’s attention.

“It’s barely a plan, really. I only suggested something so stupid because I know how powerful Olivia is,” said Ashton. Olivia had left them with a wave goodbye and a See you soon! as she headed for the old well with a hundred of their toughest fighters. She might have been going for an evening stroll for how laid-back she acted about it.

“It’s still thanks to your knowledge of our forts that we have a plan at all. I bet the imperials holed up in there have no idea the hidden passage even exists. We didn’t know, and our side built it!”

“Well, here’s hoping all the time I spent combing through old military histories raises our chances of survival—even a little. I don’t want to die yet,” Ashton said with a forced smile. Claudia felt her mood turn somber. War took so many lives before their time. There was no guarantee that those fighting beside them today would still be there tomorrow. She guessed that Ashton knew this too. That was why he was using every bit of knowledge at his disposal so that even a few more might make it out alive, all the while probably putting all his willpower into not running away.

“We’ve come too far to die here, haven’t we?” said Claudia, before gesturing for their soldiers to retreat once more. 

Olivia and her soldiers had no trouble locating the old well. While the imperial army’s attention was firmly on their comrade’s false attack, they slipped inside Fort Caspar.

“Honestly, Captain, I thought this would be harder,” said a one-eyed man with arms thick as tree trunks. His name was Gauss, and he was serving as Olivia’s second-in-command for this mission.

“Yeah, it’s a good thing the well was right where Ashton said it would be,” said Olivia with a satisfied nod. She stamped on a rat scurrying around her feet, crushing it. A soldier watching from behind let out a little squeal. Olivia continued down the stone passageway, holding up a burning torch in one hand. Probably due to its original purpose as an escape route, the passageway was cramped and the air inside was stagnant. Enormous spiderwebs spread out all down the corridor to obstruct their path. If nothing else, there was no sign that the imperial army was using it.

“How do you want to divide up the troops, ser? At this point, we’ve made it halfway without any trouble,” asked Gauss, pulling aside a spiderweb. Olivia shook her head.

“I’ve already decided. I’ll go alone to create the disturbance. The rest of you can get the bolt off the gate and let in Claudia’s troops.”

“Alone, ser?” said Gauss, taken aback. “I don’t doubt your ability, but shouldn’t you take maybe ten others with you?” A few other soldiers around them nodded in agreement. Olivia only laughed, showing pearly white teeth, and patted Gauss on the back.

“Oh, don’t worry about me. It’s actually better if I’m alone—that way I can swing my sword as much as I like. Not that it’s likely I’d accidentally kill any of you! But you never know, right?” With a more subdued smile, she patted the scabbard at her hip. Gauss laughed politely, unable to do anything but nod. He’d been there for the Battle of Ilys, so he knew as well as he did his own name that Olivia wasn’t exaggerating.

An hour later, Gauss called out, “Captain, I think we’ve arrived.” He held his torch towards the depths of the passage to illuminate a small door. If that wasn’t evidence enough, it was also a dead end.

“Okay. Gauss and the rest of you, stand by for half an hour. Then commence the operation.”

“Yes, ser. And Captain—take care of yourself in there.”

“Thanks,” said Olivia. “Well, see you later!” She waved, then opened the door. A gentle breeze came through the opening, and they saw a narrow passageway that looked like it would at last be big enough for each of them to walk upright. Further down, it was slightly brighter. She moved towards the light, and pushed on the stone wall in front of her eyes. It spun around, and ejected Olivia outside.

“This is great!” she said to herself. “Just like the trick house in one of my books.” She took in her surroundings. Judging by the stacks of dusty furniture, she had found herself in an old storage closet. She immediately opened the door and set off down the corridor outside, until she ran into a lone imperial soldier.

“Hello, do you know where the supreme commander is?” she asked, her tone friendly. The soldier rolled his eyes at her.

“What are you talking about? Did you get hit in the head or something? Lord Osvannes is off fighting at the Plains of Ilys.”

“What are you talking about? Mr. Osvannes is dead. I’m asking who’s in charge now.”

“Wha—?! Lord Osvannes, dead?! You’ve got some nerve talking like—hey, what’s your unit, anyway?” the soldier said, exasperation turning suddenly to suspicion.

“My unit? You mean the detached force?”

“Detached... Wait a minute...” The soldier’s eyes locked on to the epaulets on Olivia’s shoulders, on which were engraved a chalice and pair of lions.

“You—you’re from the royal army?!” he cried. Olivia laughed.

“Shhh, not so loud!” she said. Her hand shot out to strike the soldier in the jaw, then she drew the ebony blade with the other and stabbed him through the heart. His body spasmed a few times, and she pushed him aside. As the body hit the wall, the clatter of metal echoed through the corridor.

“What’s that racket?” called out another soldier, appearing from around the corner. “What’s... Wh-Wh-What’s going on?!”

“There goes my plan to kill the person in charge first...” Olivia sighed. “This is how it’s going to be then, huh?” As more and more soldiers appeared from around the corner, Olivia made her way towards them, casual as ever. A black mist enveloped the sword in her hand.

Half an hour after Olivia left to create the disturbance, Gauss and the others emerged from the old storage closet and made for the main gate. Somewhere in the distance, people were screaming. They continued on cautiously.

“What the hell...?” said Gauss. The wall before him was covered in blood and scattered innards. A towering pile of corpses threatened to block the corridor. There wasn’t a single intact body amongst them. Without exception, a limb or a head was missing; some had even been sliced cleanly in half. The toughest soldiers in the detached force stared in shocked silence at the horror of it. Gauss felt a profound sense of relief that Olivia was on their side.

“Vice-Captain, that screaming...”

“That’s probably—No, that’s definitely the captain off wreaking havoc. Come on, to the gate!”

“Yes, ser!” chorused his soldiers, and with nods to one another, they set off running towards the gate.

Blum’s work room practically shook as he bellowed with rage.

“It’s one damn soldier! Why the hell is it taking so long to take care of her?!”

“This isn’t just any soldier, Captain!” retorted Major Padoin, looking stricken. “You heard the rumors, didn’t you? It’s the monster with the black sword!” Padoin leaned forwards as he spoke, and Blum unconsciously recoiled. He had, of course, heard of the monster girl. He just hadn’t believed it. Saying some little girl had killed Samuel was like saying the whole world had turned upside down.

“I don’t have time for this idiocy! Even monsters can be killed. Just get some archers to all fire at her at once!” Unlike in a battle outdoors, within the walls of the fort there were only so many places to run. If they cut off her escape routes and shot a barrage of arrows at her, that should have taken care of the problem. This all seemed obvious to Blum, but Padoin scoffed like he’d said something foolish.

“You think I haven’t tried that already, ser? The moment before the archers released their arrows, she appeared right in front of them—beheaded three with a single stroke! I’d say that makes her a monster!” he snarled, banging his fist on the desk. Blum sighed.

“Now you’re asking me to believe that nonsense everyone’s been spouting? What’s next, fairies?”

“I don’t care if you believe me or not, Captain. I’ve told you what happened, and I’ll be taking leave of my command now,” Padoin said. He turned to leave, but Blum wasn’t just going to let such insubordination stand.

“You’re abandoning your post? A man of your rank should know the penalty for that!”

“Failure to obey an order, so that’d be death?” Padoin laughed, his face twisting. “That’s fine by me. There’s no way I’m making it out of here alive anyway.” He left, chuckling sardonically under his breath. Blum sat quietly for a moment, then turned to Lanchester, who had been sitting beside him in silence the whole time.

“Make a note to deal with him later. What do you make of his story?”

“Is it true? I cannot say, ser,” Lanchester replied slowly. “However, I think it may be prudent for us to act as though it is.”

“You’re not serious?” Blum said, staring at Lanchester and unable to believe his ears. He knew the man wasn’t the sort to put stock in rumors.

“I am, ser. Like an earthquake or a volcanic eruption, some simply have power that ordinary humans cannot stand against. Take the mages, for example.”

“I don’t—you’re saying this girl is like a mage?!” spluttered Blum. “I don’t believe it... And if she is? How do we stop her?!”

“If you’ll wait a moment, ser.” Lanchester stood up and went over to the adjacent room. He returned holding something shaped like a bow, and placed it on the desk.

“What’s that?” demanded Blum.

“This is a sample we received from the Imperial Weapons Development Unit. It is, to put it simply, a mobile ballista. It is both faster and more lethal than any ordinary bow,” explained Lanchester. Blum picked it up. He could see how the design resembled a ballista, but it appeared to be operated not by a drawstring, but a metal spring. It was lighter than it looked, and sat well in his hands.

“You want to use this to kill the monster?”

“Yes, ser. Even without her, the royal army will be here soon. If we allow this to get further out of hand, we may find ourselves destroyed from within.”

“We are indeed short on ti—what was that?” Blum started as the sound of someone running towards them reached them from the corridor. They stopped outside, then an out-of-breath soldier flung the door open.

“You will knock before entering!” said Lanchester sharply.

“F-Forgive me, ser, but it’s urgent!”

“Tell me.”

“Yes, ser! The royal army has passed through the main gate, and are storming the fort!”

“What?!” cried Blum, jumping up from his chair. He looked at Lanchester, and saw the other man frozen in shock.

“What is the meaning of this? Did the enemy have siege weapons?” he demanded. Fort Caspar might have been old, but it was still a fort. You couldn’t just break through the gates with ordinary weapons.

“They didn’t use siege weapons, ser!” the soldier replied. “A group of enemy soldiers appeared out of nowhere and unbarred the gates! They’re wide open now!” This was so beyond anything Blum had anticipated that he found himself unable to speak. Then, he understood. The monster girl had been nothing more than a distraction—their true goal had been to open the gates. But that left an obvious question: how had the monster girl and the soldiers who’d opened the gate gotten inside in the first place? Maybe they could have done it, moving the way they did like shimmering wisps of smoke in the air, but there were only a few of them and, by the sounds of it, a lot of invaders. And the watch on Fort Caspar was too vigilant to allow invaders to sneak by unnoticed. Blum buried his face in his hands, reeling from the string of unforeseen events.

“This isn’t over yet, Captain. We still have an overwhelming advantage in numbers. I will take command and meet the enemy.”

“Lanchester...” said Blum. The usually emotionless Lanchester radiated a grim resolve. Blum was accosted by the realization that the situation was more hopeless than any words could express. A horrifying monster stalked the fort, and the enemy had all but strolled in through the gate. Morale, the most crucial element in a battle, was close to zero. They were long past the point where they could make up for all that with superior numbers.

As soon as Claudia saw the plan to open the gate had worked, she set about issuing orders.

“First, Second, and Third Companies are to enter the fort! We want to secure the important locations before they know what’s hit them!”

“The hour is nigh!” came a comically loud voice from the head of the First Company. “Lady Olivia has bestowed upon me, Gile, the honor of leading her personal guard! We must fight so as not to dishonor the Silver Valkyrie’s name!” His words were met with a roar of assent. Claudia turned to Ashton, her eyes narrowed.

“Care to enlighten me as to when exactly that boy became the leader of Lieutenant Olivia’s personal guard?”

“Ah, that...” stammered Ashton, looking down in embarrassment. “Sorry about that... He probably just made it up.” It was a flagrant breach of discipline, but it seemed to have gotten the soldiers fired up. Claudia decided to pretend it hadn’t happened.

An hour later, the detached force moved through the fort like clockwork, taking control piece by piece. The inside of the fort was in disarray, and the imperial soldiers all surrendered without much resistance. Oddly enough, they seemed relieved to be captured. Amongst them, weeping with joy, was Major Thistle.

“It looks like your plan was a great success, Ashton,” muttered Claudia. She looked a little deflated.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” replied Ashton, and his smile was apologetic. “I think it’s clear Olivia did something to scare them like this.” Even with the gate open, the imperials had them solidly outnumbered. They shouldn’t have laid down their arms without a fight. Something had happened to utterly decimate their morale, and Ashton thought he had a fair idea what that was. He hesitated to say it out loud, though, and Claudia didn’t ask. She removed her helmet and shook out her hair.

“Something. Yes, I imagine she did,” she said, and they both looked up at Fort Caspar.

“You’re the monster everyone’s talking about, then?” said Blum. He sat with composure at his desk, facing the girl who stood before him holding Padoin’s head.

“I’m not a monster. I’m Olivia. And you’re Commander Blum, right? This human kindly told me where to find you,” said Olivia. She tossed the head to him. It landed precisely on the desk, and rolled towards him. The monster had killed Padoin, just like he’d predicted.

“Hah! You threw a whole fort into chaos all by yourself. I’d say that makes you a monster,” Blum said, realizing as the words came out that they were the same ones Padoin had used earlier—the ones that he had ignored.

“I guess you’re the enemy, so it doesn’t really matter what you call me. What do you want to do now, anyway? I’m pretty sure Claudia’s already conquered the fort, so you can’t win, no matter what you do.”

“You’re right, we’re well and truly defeated. Even so—” In a flash, Blum pulled out the ballista he’d been holding under his desk, and loosed a bolt at Olivia. Then he laughed. Before him, Olivia gripped the bolt in her left hand. She snapped it in half, and tossed it aside.

“You really are a monster,” he said, still chuckling. Olivia eyed at the ballista with interest.

“Wow, I wasn’t expecting that! That packs way more punch than a bow. Mind if I keep it?”

“I certainly won’t be needing it. It’s yours, if you want it,” spat Blum, throwing the ballista over to her. As he did so, she drew her sword and leapt forwards.

“I suppose... I deserved that...” he said.

“Thanks for the bow-thing! I promise to take good care of it,” said Olivia brightly, driving her ebony blade deeper into Blum’s chest. Before she’d finished speaking, he was already dead. Olivia giggled. “First the pocket watch, and now I found this! I can’t wait to show Ashton and Claudia.” She left, stepping lightly and cradling the mobile ballista in her arms.