“Hiss——!”
The autumn wind swept across the withered grass on the hills, and atop the slope… the fin-like organ behind the Dragonborn wielding a long staff suddenly flared open!
This made his already fierce and terrifying head even more fearsome…
The several mercenaries around him instinctively froze in place.
Besides the horrifying appearance, the traces of “Dragon’s Might” mixed into his roar were also the reason these Brass Rank mercenaries couldn’t move!
Clatter clatter clatter!
The next second, from behind the slope, dozens of dark figures leaped out!
They were a group of slender creatures—not so much Dragonborn as… more like Lizardfolk.
In their hands were the standard-issue weapons of Human soldiers, clearly looted from Human soldiers earlier…
Shhk shhk shhk!
These agile small Dragonborn ran and jumped, charging toward the frozen mercenaries ahead!
The mercenaries, their bodies stiff from the suppression of Dragon’s Might, could hardly fight back…
“Urgh ah!”
Immediately, three mercenaries at the front collapsed into pools of blood, unable to dodge in time!
“Revenge’s Flame…”
And as the Dragonborn charged, the long-staff-wielding Dragonborn spat hoarse syllables from his throat—Half-Dragon Language, long buried beneath the sands of history.
Hoo… As his words fell, a ball of orange-red flame gradually gathered in his palm!
“Die! You weak and despicable races!!”
Hoo!! The fireball screamed forth from the Dragonborn’s hand!
Szzzk—!
But the next second, a bolt of lightning countless times faster than the fireball collided with it head-on!
Boom!!
“Ugh ah!!”
“Sssss…”
As thunder and fire clashed, the violent elemental explosion blasted everything around away—Humans and small Dragonborn alike.
Of course, being tossed around like that was far better than being hit directly by the fireball and blown to pieces.
“Hm?” The Dragonborn mage on the slope frowned slightly. Before it could even see what had spat lightning ahead…
The next second, it only felt a shadow cover its head!
“Huh?!” Whoosh!
As the Dragonborn mage looked up, it was met with the blade of the Holy Sword!
Shhk… Ptoo!!
Holly, who had soared high in [Wing] form, descended in Holy Sword form, and felled her foe in one strike, tumbled awkwardly across the ground before barely steadying herself!
The Dragonborn mage, sliced diagonally by the Holy Sword, now gushed like a fountain of blood!
Then… its entire body went limp and toppled over.
“Ssss!!”
The other slender Dragonborn, seeing their mage beheaded, fell into chaos. Their formation, which had held until now, completely collapsed!
“Enemy Transcendent has been beheaded! Hunt down the Foreign Race!!”
“Kill!!” The tide of battle reversed in an instant.
The Human mercenaries pressed their advantage, and the Dragonborn who had lost all will to fight after their leader’s death were cut down in moments!
Within a few short minutes, this small skirmish had already ended in an overwhelming Human victory.
“Hah…” Holly wiped the blood splattered across her face with her hand and tightened her grip on the Holy Sword.
So this is what life-and-death combat feels like?
Feeling the surging blood in her veins, the young woman took a deep breath.
Although the decapitation strike had been a complete success—with Lady Reliel’s coordination, she had used the aerial advantage of [Wing] to instantly kill this Foreign Race Transcendent—
Looking back on it now, she still felt incredibly tense.
“Not bad~ You… really have grown~”
Before Holly could shake off that tension, someone lightly patted her shoulder.
Turning her head, she saw her Lady’s face, carrying a faint smile.
“Lady…” For some reason, the moment she saw Ileya, all the tension and anxiety in her heart vanished.
She was like a beam of light, capable of healing any negative effects brought by darkness.
As long as Lady was here, everything would fall into place.
“Don’t be nervous~ Your aspirations go far beyond this~ isn’t that right?”
Ileya took out her handkerchief and gently wiped the blood from Holly’s face, her scarlet eyes playfully winking at her.
The Holy Sword Bearer froze for a moment.
She understood—Lady was referring to the fact that she was a Transmigrator from another world.
Thinking that this was a little secret shared only between her and Lady, Holly felt… inexplicably happy.
“Mm! Of course!”
After chatting a bit more with Holly, Ileya stepped forward and climbed up the slope.
She looked at the village in the distance.
Above the village now, thick smoke billowed…
It had been nearly half a month since that speech at the Mercenary Guild.
The Foreign Race’s invasions had gone from occasional sightings around Green Ridge in the northeast to constant attacks on villages in the Eastern and Northern Regions.
Within just a few days, dozens of villages had been destroyed. Of the villagers who insisted on staying, almost none survived.
The nearby military, until that old man of hers returned, had all chosen to hold their cities and not sally forth.
Of course… though it sounded selfish and cold… it was indeed the correct choice.
Without unified command and each acting on their own, if the Foreign Race had an exceptionally brilliant strategist, Human forces could easily suffer a devastating defeat before even reaching the front lines!
Losing a few hundred or thousand men might not affect the overall war situation.
But an initial crushing defeat would endlessly demoralize the main army!
No one wanted to bear that burden.
So… everyone stayed within their own walls, waiting for the one in charge to return.
As for why Ileya had organized these mercenaries and Transcendents to come out—besides adding to the image she’d built and clearing out nearby Foreign Races…
She naturally had other ideas.
First, to train everyone, especially Holly’s practical combat experience.
She had killed mountain bandits before, and had even slain a powerful Transcendent by sheer chance.
But her practical combat experience was still worryingly lacking.
This small probing force of Foreign Race was the perfect opportunity for her to practice.
Of course~ what no one knew was… these Foreign Race corpses were also the foundation of Ileya’s growth in power.
That was the second reason.
One could say… the more creatures died, the stronger Ileya became.
As long as that [Supreme Being] from the memory images—whose mere aura rivaled a Catastrophe—didn’t personally step in…
Against Ileya, quantity really could overwhelm quality.
“Ah… ah ah ah! Ah ah ah ah!!”
Just as Ileya was thinking this, panicked screams erupted from behind the side slope!
That voice was all too familiar to Lady… It was Yumina’s!
What happened?!
Ileya frowned slightly and hurried toward the source of the screams!
This Twin-tailed Maid… a week ago, had finally and satisfactorily advanced to Transcendent!
This time, she had begged Lady to bring her along for a little experience.
At first, Lady had wanted to give her the Fifth Rank Sandworm.
But after probing her soul’s strength… she gave up on that idea.
The Sandworm’s intelligence was too low, and it could easily subconsciously backlash against its master.
So after careful selection, Ileya chose the Second Rank Skeleton that had previously advanced to [Skeleton Mage].
The Skeleton Mage had the ability to Summon Skeleton Soldiers, as well as simple ranged attacks and defensive Magic.
And to keep this little rookie safe, Lady had equipped the Skeleton Mage with several Transcendent Items.
Even in a head-on magical duel, that Dragonborn mage from earlier would never have been its match.
And that small Foreign Race force had seemingly only possessed that one Transcendent commander.
So… what was she screaming about?
Ileya, tense and confused, arrived at the back of the side slope…
There she saw a small, terrified Dragonborn pinned down by four sturdy Skeleton Soldiers—clearly servants Summoned by the Skeleton Mage standing there dumbly beside them…
And her Twin-tailed Maid, clad in leather armor that showed off her… well, streamlined figure, was wielding a longsword engraved with defensive magic runes, swinging wildly at the poor pinned Dragonborn!
“Ah ah ah!!”
“Ssss!!”
Yumina screamed as she swung her sword, and the pinned Dragonborn screamed in terror too!
Both parties were clearly in a state of extreme tension!
Because the little maid was too nervous, her strikes had no accuracy whatsoever—the longsword sometimes cut through the skin of its belly, sometimes peeled off a layer of shoulder scales, sometimes grazed past its scalp by a hair’s breadth…
“This…” Ileya opened her mouth, truly not expecting this situation.
“Huh? Lady!” Seeming to hear Ileya’s surprised voice, Yumina instinctively turned her head.
Hoo… And in that moment of turning, the Twin-tailed Maid’s longsword landed precisely on the Dragonborn’s lower abdomen.
Though only engraved with defensive formations, the longsword itself was still a rare sharp weapon.
Ptoo… The small Dragonborn was cut in half the next second, its blood splattering all over Yumina!
And whether it was an illusion or not, Ileya thought she saw a look of release in the Dragonborn’s eyes.
“Waaah!!”
The next second, the fear in her little maid’s heart seemed to burst forth all at once! With a wronged expression, she ran over and hugged Ileya tightly!
“There there…~ Didn’t you win? Nana is amazing..”
Ileya smiled helplessly and patted her childhood friend’s head.
This girl—she was the one who begged to come, and now she was the one scared to tears…
Sigh~
Of course, at times like this, training her was still quite necessary.
“But… that thing suddenly jumped out… it was… so scary…”
Feeling the trembling of the other’s body, Ileya was certain—she was genuinely frightened.
Probably one of the ones that slipped through had been chased over here by other mercenaries…
Thinking this, Ileya gently patted Yumina’s back while coldly glaring at the Skeleton Mage standing in the distance…
Hoo… clack clack clack…
The Skeleton Mage’s Soulfire trembled violently at that moment, nearly failing to maintain its form and scattering into a pile of bones…
It could only prostrate itself on the ground in utter terror, begging forgiveness from the true Mistress before it.
What a useless thing.
Letting out a soft sigh, Ileya’s movements became gentler.
But then…
Checking the time… that old Butler and her two half-brothers should be returning soon, right?
She wondered if they could accept…
The changes in her now~