We Go For It First!

The allied forces, which had begun to gain the strength to resist the Demon Tribe that had been steadily choking off their lifeline thanks to the massive supplies sent from Ingrad, were preparing a counterattack.

“The phrase ‘welcome rain in a drought’ was not said for nothing.”

“The amount of supplies is tremendous.”

“Was it said to be enough for two thousand carriages?”

“That is correct. And each carriage contained twenty thousand medicines.”

Twenty thousand sounded simple when put that way, but in reality, the amount sent this time could be called tremendous enough that it would not be an exaggeration to say at least ten medicines would go to each soldier.

“Just what kind of person… is he…?”

They had even heard that a similar amount of supplies had been moved toward the Mirkas Federation as well. It was an absurd quantity offensive no matter how they thought about it, but was it thanks to that?

A green light had begun to appear in the war situation where “if you are wounded, you die.”

“Supply one medicine to each soldier first. Unlike potions, they are medicines applied to wounds, so if used sparingly, they should be usable several times. Supplies have come for now, but we do not know when they will run out. Since the war against the Demon Tribe must be seen long-term, we need to conserve them.”

Even issuing one each could be called an impressive decision.

To put it bluntly, it would have been enough to issue them only to knights or elite troops. However, the commander thought differently.

‘I will become the hero who drove back the Demon Tribe.’

His dream was to leave his name long in human history, and he instinctively realized that the foundation to achieve that was being prepared.

Meanwhile, the supplies that arrived at the Mirkas Federation were also producing the result of bringing vitality to a front that had been becoming entrenched.

No, it would be more accurate to say that the humans who had been despairing, thinking it was now the end, had begun to move actively because it became a spark of hope for them.

“Prepare! We must cut off the Demon Tribe’s supply route and sever its neck!”

Duke Asilbar of the Dradnos Empire, who had come down as far as the Mirkas Federation, finally rose up for the plan he had only been eyeing until now, thanks to Ingrad’s supplies.

“We must mobilize all the Empire’s knight orders. This is a grave matter of cutting down the Demon God’s minions. Do not spare your strength. Supply the medicines to the soldiers and encourage them!”

Duke Asilbar, who filled his voice with mana and shouted resoundingly across the battlefield, was the undisputed strongest Master of Dradnos, and his shout and will spread all over the battlefield, beginning to create a massive movement.

“Impressive.”

After giving the order, he said that while turning to his adjutant, and the adjutant asked.

“What do you mean, Your Grace?”

“I am speaking of the master of Ingrad. He must have been busy enough looking after his own safety, and yet he made such a great decision for humanity…”

“He is certainly an impressive person. Did he not develop new weapons and win a great victory even in the war with the Empire?”

“I only feel disappointed that he did not come to our Empire. According to what the intelligence department informed me, the weapons used in this civil war are being managed as top secret, so they are not easy to find out about.”

“Do you desire them?”

Duke Asilbar clicked his tongue while fiddling with the handle of his beloved sword.

“I think they were weapons that should have been used against the Demon Tribe. If that had been done, the direction of the war would have changed greatly from what it is now. Perhaps… we might even have recovered the territory we lost.”

“Do you rate them that highly?”

Duke Asilbar glanced up at the sky and asked his adjutant.

“What do you think one must do to produce firepower capable of erasing an army of three hundred thousand overnight…?”

“….I dare not guess.”

“Yes, that is the normal way of thinking. They say that if one looks back on the history of continental warfare, it happened only when ten million humans waged war.”

The adjutant could not grasp what he was talking about, and Duke Asilbar gave that adjutant the answer.

“I mean the fact that three hundred thousand died in one day.”

The adjutant thought, So three hundred thousand people die in a day only when ten million people wage war, and realized the meaning of what Duke Asilbar wanted to say.

It was a moment when he once again thought of the potential possessed by that tiny domain.

And before long, the war that would come to be called the “Path of Hardship” was about to begin.

Count Branne, looking noticeably haggard as she watched the Imperial Army rushing in, was waiting for an opportunity.

“The preparations are thorough, correct?”

“But… do you truly intend to carry it out?”

After hearing Galea’s words, Branne slowly nodded. Recently, there had been a time when the Imperial Army’s offensive changed.

That had occurred when Duke Balsen, who had been utterly defeated in the Ingrad Region, hired mercenaries in order to seek a reversal. The Empire’s movements, which previously had tried to minimize sacrifices, had now transformed into a swarm that charged in without even thinking of sacrifice, putting them in a difficult situation.

“It could become the worst possible move.”

“With Duke Balsen’s current personality… there is a chance it will work. So… I will merely force sacrifices.”

At the words that she would force sacrifices, Galea sighed. Then she met Branne’s eyes and opened her mouth.

“May I say something as your friend?”

At Galea’s serious expression, Branne slowly nodded. Then Galea, whose expression suddenly changed, said this.

“If you decided to do it, then don’t show yourself hesitating or regretting it, you idiot!”

At Galea’s shout, Branne, who had been making a dumbfounded expression, finally checked her own expression and spoke.

“I made a mistake. Thank you, Galea.”

“Do not mention it…”

Branne looked at the Imperial Army swarming in with a frosty gaze. She had steeled her resolve. Then she shouted.

“When the signal sounds, climb down from the walls without hesitation! And prepare the counterattack!!”

The Ishtain army steeled itself with grave expressions, and they desperately defended against the Imperial forces that had begun clinging to the walls as if carrying out an all-out battle, including siege engines.

After the offense and defense continued like that for some time, Branne, who had been waiting for the right moment, saw the knight order that could be called the elite of the Imperial Army moving in the distance and shouted.

“Blow the whistle!!”

The signal system of the plan Branne had devised had a total of three stages. The first whistle meant retreat.

With the sound of “Piiiiii,” a sharp whistle rang throughout the entire castle.

At that noise, the soldiers who had been frantically exchanging attacks and defenses began hurriedly withdrawing. At this, the Imperial Army, whose momentum rose, began climbing up the walls with even more of their full strength, and after watching this briefly, Branne and the leadership also began descending from the walls.

Only then did cheers burst out from outside the castle, and shouts echoed from everywhere.

“The enemy is retreating! Climb up quickly!”

“Prepare for urban combat!!”

“Knight orders, open the castle gate!!”

Various and complicated shouts rang out, and the Imperial Army climbed the castle with all its strength, seizing the momentum. However, the Ishtain army, which had retreated without regret into the city behind the walls, began waiting for an opportunity as they watched the Imperial Army pour in.

And at the moment they thoroughly defended against the Imperial soldiers who had begun climbing down from the walls, while blocking off the city itself here and there as if turning it into a second defensive wall and preparing—

The second whistle rang across the battlefield.

At that moment, a strange tension flowed out, and the Ishtain soldiers raised their shields and lifted them above their heads. That was when it happened.

Galea approached Branne’s side, pointed in one direction, and spoke.

“The Empire’s knight order has climbed onto the wall.”

“We wait a little longer.”

“….Why?”

“Only when more troops swarm in will we see the true effect.”

“….If we overdo it, the damage to our allies may grow.”

“What if the damage that occurs when we have to deal with them later becomes even greater because we inflicted too little damage?”

Galea fell silent. All decisions belonged to her lord Branne, so she could no longer remonstrate. And when the Imperial knight order took control of the walls and began encouraging soldiers everywhere, the number of Imperial soldiers entering the castle began to increase rapidly.

It was proof that they had begun climbing over the walls in earnest. Branne made her judgment and spoke to Galea.

“The whistle… sound it.”

At the moment the sound of “Piiiiii-pi!” rang out, the Ishtain army pressed together the shields they had raised all at once, lowered their posture, and clustered together.

It looked as if they were preparing for something, and at the moment when even the Imperial soldiers watching this found it strange, bizarre patterns began to appear in various places on the castle walls.

Then the walls turned red. They could hear the Imperial knights, who sensed that something was wrong, shouting this and that, but before those voices could spread far, something unrealistic happened.

Kwaaaaaaa!! Kwaang! Kwagwang!!“

The castle walls began exploding one after another, scattering tremendous fragments in every direction. At that moment, the mages within the Ishtain army began combining the shields into one through reinforcement magic prepared in advance to prepare for the falling fragments, and the Imperial Army was swept up in the explosions that burst out, torn apart and shattered so completely that even their traces were difficult to recognize.

Their number easily exceeded tens of thousands, and because they had not prepared for fragments and debris, enormous secondary damage began to occur.

It was truly an incident that shook the tide of the war.

If hell existed, this place would be it, Branne thought as she knocked away the falling fragments. She remained silent until the moment a strange silence settled over the battlefield, then filled her voice with mana and shouted resoundingly.

“For the glory of Ishtain!! Charge!!!”

Uwaaaaaaa!!!

There were two major pieces of news on the Central Continent.

One was the state of the Terakan Empire’s civil war, and the other was that the Mirkas Federation was winning a great victory.

First, in the case of the Mirkas Federation, they succeeded in attempting to isolate the Demon King by using his reckless advance. Unlike the defensive offense and defense of the Terakan Empire, it was an operation forced through by switching to an offensive posture, and in the vanguard, the exploits of Dradnos, another empire that divided the Central Continent, began to stand out and spread as rumors.

Duke Asilbar cut off the heads of two Demon Dukes, and as it was said that he had cut off the reinforcements and supplies that were supposed to go to the Demon King’s Army, he became known as the leading figure of the victory. He began receiving the evaluation that he had brought about a turning point in the war that had made people think of humanity’s despair as they were driven into repeated defeats.

Meanwhile, there was also news that an unexpected change had occurred in the Terakan Empire’s civil war.

The great victory of the Ishtain Region!

Terakan, unable to subjugate the Ishtain Region after the Ingrad Region, had to withdraw in defeat while bearing disgrace. At this time, the operation of Branne de Ishtain, who displayed outstanding wit and drove out the Imperial Army, became a topic of conversation everywhere, and rumors began spreading that Ishtain might rise as an emerging power alongside the Ingrad Region.

“Impressive. I never thought they would win.”

There had been a numerical difference of more than two hundred thousand troops. Moreover, it was unexpected that the ragtag forces of the Ishtain Region could possibly block the offensive of the Terakan Empire, which was famous for its unified command system and strong soldiers.

“It seems the operation to blow up the castle walls in the final battle worked as a divine move.”

At Matilda’s report, I examined the Imperial forces that had died in the explosion at the time.

“More than two hundred thousand died from the collapse of a single castle wall…?”

“It is said that several times more died from the debris that fell after the explosion than those who died at the time of the blast.”

“It seems it did not fall in large chunks, then?”

“It seems they created cracks in the enormous stones, foundation stones, and the like with magic beforehand. There is talk that they caused cracks like sharp crystals, designing them so that when they fell, they would pierce into targets rather than strike them.”

It meant they had made sharp stones fall.

“So that is why it was named the ‘Battle of Stone Rain’?”

It was the name written in the report Matilda had brought after obtaining the information.

‘The Battle of Stone Rain, huh…’

It was a moment when I thought it was somehow interesting. There would be damage in losing the castle walls, but they had won the war, and with the thought that such an operation could be carried out again later, the Imperial Army would not be able to go all-in on a siege carelessly. Such an operation would consume enormous funds, time, and effort, but considering the condition that it could deliver one heavy blow, I thought it was an operation worth trying.

Like that, the world was becoming noisy with unexpected results.