Chapter 34
"You won't get past me!"
It was right after I said that.
The Sword Saint before me disappeared.
"!"
No, he hadn't disappeared.
He'd simply moved so fast that I'd missed his first step.
His sword came from the right.
I met it with the Flamefang Sword.
Clang!
Metal struck metal, and sparks flew.
By the time I thought I'd blocked it, his sword was already moving along its next trajectory.
A rising slash from below.
"Guh!"
I lowered the Flamefang Sword and blocked it.
Then a slash from the upper left.
Followed by a thrust.
Every time our swords met, his next attack came from somewhere different.
He wasn't just fast.
His movements were efficient.
I'd felt the same thing when I fought Kyle.
This was a Sword Saint.
His ability to wield a sword was on an entirely different level from that of an ordinary swordsman.
"What's wrong?!"
The man stepped in.
A horizontal slash.
I jumped back.
The tip of his blade grazed my chest.
"...!"
I retreated even farther.
The man didn't pursue me.
He kept his sword pointed at me and watched my movements.
"You really are fast."
"............"
"You've got strength, too. I could tell from that first strike."
The man's gaze dropped to my feet.
"But your movements are easy to read."
The next instant, he closed the distance again.
This time, I moved first.
When it came to Agility, I wasn't outmatched.
By the numbers alone, I was probably faster than him.
I closed the distance in one burst and swung the Flamefang Sword at his neck.
It was going to hit.
Or so I thought.
Clink!
"...Huh?"
The Flamefang Sword slid off to the side.
He hadn't stopped it with strength.
He'd barely touched his blade to mine, changing only its trajectory.
My body pitched forward.
"Being fast isn't enough to land a hit."
His voice was close.
The next instant, a blow struck my side.
"Guh!"
It burned.
I hurriedly put some distance between us.
The armor over my left side was torn, and blood seeped through beneath it.
It wasn't deep.
Even so, he'd cut me.
"Allen-san!"
Felicia's voice rang out.
"I'm all right!"
I didn't take my eyes off the man in front of me.
The Sword Saint didn't pursue me, either.
He was watching me.
At first, he'd been surprised by my speed.
But he was already starting to get used to it.
Agility: 1,565.
Even while sharing, 1,253.
An ordinary soldier wouldn't even realize I'd moved.
And yet this man could keep up with me.
Physical ability alone wasn't enough to surpass a Sword Saint.
I tightened my grip on the Flamefang Sword.
Just then.
Bang!
A heavy metallic crash rang out to my right.
I glanced that way for just an instant.
It was Claude-san.
The other Sword Saint.
He was going head-to-head with the man wielding the greatsword.
The greatsword came down.
Claude-san didn't block it.
He moved half a step to the side.
The massive blade slammed into the ground, sending dirt flying.
Claude-san slipped past it.
Fast.
He was clearly moving differently than before.
Thanks to Share, his Agility was over five hundred.
The swordsmanship Claude-san had honed over the years was now backed by that physical ability.
The Greatsword Sword Saint turned around.
But Claude-san's sword was already closing in on his shoulder.
"Hmph!"
The greatsword shot upward.
Clang!
The two swords collided.
Claude-san was pushed back, skidding across the ground.
Even so, he didn't fall.
"Well, well."
The greatsword-wielding man smiled for the first time.
"So Sahar does have a skilled swordsman."
"Sorry."
Claude-san readied his sword again.
"I'm an adventurer."
The two men moved at the same time.
The greatsword was heavy.
If he took it head-on, even Claude-san would be overpowered.
So he didn't block it.
As his opponent swung down, he changed the angle and struck the flat of the greatsword with his own blade.
The moment its trajectory shifted slightly, he stepped in.
The greatsword-wielding man tried to pull his sword back.
Before he could, Claude-san's sword was closing in on his wrist.
The man pulled his arm away.
Claude-san didn't pursue him.
He waited for the next attack.
It wasn't just speed.
He was reading what his opponent would do next.
Where he was about to move.
Claude-san was fighting with all of that in mind.
"It's pretty bold of you to look away."
"!"
A sword was right in front of me.
I leaned my head away.
The blade passed just beside my cheek.
I counterattacked.
But the man had already moved out of range of my sword.
"Damn it."
I pursued him.
I swung from the right.
He redirected it.
I swung from the left.
He redirected that one, too.
I stepped in even farther.
This time, for sure.
The man's sword touched my Flamefang Sword at an angle.
My wrist was forced outward.
"!"
My chest was exposed.
His kick struck my stomach.
"Guh...!"
My body flew backward.
I rolled across the ground.
The breath was knocked out of me.
"Allen!"
Claude-san called out.
I didn't have time to answer.
The Sword Saint was coming.
I planted a hand on the ground and rolled to the side.
Right after that, his sword stabbed into the spot where my head had been.
"!"
I got to my feet at once.
My side hurt.
So did my stomach.
Each breath sent pain through me.
Even so, I could still move.
The Sword Saint pulled his sword from the ground.
"You're tough."
"I get that a lot."
"But how long can you keep it up?"
The man took up his stance.
I readied the Flamefang Sword, too.
Honestly, this was bad.
I wasn't losing in terms of physical ability.
And yet I was being pushed back.
I knew why.
I reacted after his sword moved.
He was different.
Before I moved, he had already decided where to put his sword next.
It was the same when Claude-san fought that captain.
He'd been watching what his opponent would do next.
Where he was trying to go.
He'd been looking that far ahead.
I was watching nothing but the sword.
"............"
I took my eyes off the man's sword.
His shoulder.
His waist.
His feet.
I looked at his whole body.
His right foot sank slightly.
His waist turned a little.
Here he comes.
From the right.
I lowered my body before his sword moved.
"!"
The blade passed over my head.
For the first time, I'd read him completely.
I moved inside his guard.
I swung the Flamefang Sword.
The man immediately brought his sword back.
Clink!
He redirected its trajectory again.
But this time, I didn't try to force my way through.
I watched his feet.
His right foot shifted half a step back.
Where he was going to move next.
"There!"
I stepped in first.
"What?!"
For the first time, the man made a pronounced shift in his stance.
Our swords met.
Clang!
This time, we were locked in a contest of strength.
When it came to strength, I was superior.
The man's feet slid across the ground.
"...!"
"Not yet!"
I pursued him.
The man's sword shot upward from below.
I could see it.
I met it with the Flamefang Sword.
Sparks flew.
The sparks scattered on the wind, catching the sunlight and glowing gold for just an instant.
I could see the man's eyes between our crossed blades.
The composure he'd had before was gone.
But then.
The man suddenly relaxed.
"!"
With nothing to brace against, my body pitched forward.
His knee shot up toward my chin.
I leaned my head back.
I dodged it.
But that wasn't the end of it.
The hilt of his sword struck my shoulder.
"Guh!"
I lost my balance.
He followed up with a horizontal slash.
I couldn't dodge it in time.
I raised the Flamefang Sword.
Bang!
I took the blow head-on.
My arms went numb.
The sword nearly flew out of my hands.
"Not yet!"
I tightened my grip on the hilt.
I took a step back.
Another strike.
Then another.
I was starting to see his attacks more clearly.
Even so, I couldn't block them all.
My shoulder was cut.
The blade also caught my thigh.
Blood fell to the ground.
It hurt.
Even so, he wasn't overwhelming me the way he had before.
I swung the Flamefang Sword back at him, too.
The tip of the blade grazed his armor.
For the first time, I'd wounded him.
"...Not bad."
"I'm just getting started."
I was breathing hard.
But so was my opponent.
Just then.
"Ten men coming from the right!"
Ena-san's voice cut across the battlefield.
Imperial soldiers were trying to join the fight between me and the Sword Saint.
"Come on, then!"
Bork-san stepped forward.
He raised his greatshield.
Bang!
Three spears struck the shield at once.
Bork-san's feet scraped through the dirt.
Even so, he didn't retreat.
"You shall not pass!"
A spear thrust out from behind his shield.
"I'm here, too!"
It was Raoul-san.
He blocked an Imperial soldier's sword with the shaft of his spear, then turned the point on him.
He struck the man's side.
Then his leg.
He was prioritizing stopping their advance over taking them down.
The flow of Imperial soldiers ground to a halt around Bork-san's shield.
"Behind you!"
Ena-san shouted.
Before Raoul-san could turn, a dagger flew through the air.
"Guh!"
It struck the shoulder of a soldier trying to circle around them.
Raoul-san's spear shot out in that opening.
"Thanks!"
"Watch the front."
"I know!"
Even more Imperial soldiers gathered.
"There are so many!"
Flames gathered at the end of Lydia-san's staff.
"Bork, fall back!"
"All right!"
Bork-san stepped back, his greatshield moving with him.
The Imperial soldiers who'd been pushing against it surged forward all at once.
Right into it.
"Fire Arrow!"
Several flames flew in arcs through the air.
They struck the ground.
The shields.
The soldiers' feet.
Red flames spread sideways, splitting the Imperial soldiers' line.
"Now!"
Lydia turned to the side and called out.
"Magic Bullet!"
A white flash passed between the flames.
It was Felicia.
The first shot knocked a soldier's sword aside.
The second struck the arm of a man who'd raised his bow.
The third hit a mage who'd been pointing his staff at us.
Only the white flashes flew accurately, threading their way through the gaps between people.
"Target the mages!"
An Imperial soldier shouted.
Arrows flew.
"Get down!"
Bork-san tilted his shield.
Ratatat!
Several arrows stuck in his greatshield.
"Bork!"
Cecil-san shouted.
"I'm fine!"
"Let me see your arm!"
"Later!"
"No!"
White light wrapped around Bork-san's arm.
The blood running down the edge of his shield began to stop.
"Three seconds is all I can give you!"
"That's plenty!"
Bork-san stepped forward again.
His greatshield shoved the Imperial soldiers back.
Watching them, I understood once more.
The only reason Claude-san and I could focus on the Sword Saints was that everyone else was keeping the enemies around us at bay.
The two of us weren't fighting alone.
"Are you going to keep looking elsewhere?"
The Sword Saint was right in front of me.
His sword came at me again.
This time, I watched his body.
His right foot.
His shoulder.
His waist.
His sword moved.
I stepped in just before it did.
The man's eyes widened.
I swung the Flamefang Sword.
Clang!
He blocked it.
But he couldn't fully regain his balance.
I pushed.
"Guh!"
The man backed away.
This time, I pursued him.
The Sword Saint didn't go down so easily, either.
He shifted his step and slipped past me to the side.
I immediately chased after him.
The Flamefang Sword and his sword collided again and again.
Sparks traced thin lines through the air.
Just then, a roar sounded from the right.
The Greatsword Sword Saint was forcing Claude-san back.
"Claude-san!"
The greatsword came down.
Claude-san dodged to the side.
The ground split apart.
But the greatsword didn't stop.
A horizontal slash.
Claude-san brought his sword against it.
Bang!
His body lifted off the ground.
"Guh!"
He landed several steps back.
The man with the greatsword pursued him.
"It's over!"
He raised his sword high.
"Claude!"
Ena-san's voice rang out.
"Left!"
Claude-san moved without hesitation.
Right after that.
Bork-san's greatshield cut in from the side.
"Uraaaaah!"
Bang!
The greatsword struck the shield directly.
Its surface caved in badly.
Bork-san was shoved backward.
"Guh...!"
Even so, he didn't fall.
"You!"
The Greatsword Sword Saint turned toward Bork-san.
"Quit looking at me!"
Raoul-san's spear thrust in from the other side.
The Sword Saint pulled back his greatsword and knocked the spear aside.
But in that instant.
"Fire Arrow!"
Lydia-san's flames fell at his feet.
The man stepped back half a pace.
"Magic Bullet!"
A white flash followed.
Felicia's Magic Bullet flew toward the right hand gripping the greatsword.
"Hmph!"
The man pulled his arm back.
Just for an instant.
That was all Claude-san needed.
He kicked off the ground.
The Agility shared with him sent the seasoned swordsman's body surging forward.
He slipped through the flames and clouds of dust.
He entered the Greatsword Sword Saint's guard.
"Damn—"
His sword flashed.
From the shoulder down across the chest.
Claude-san's blade cut through.
"Guh!"
The man with the greatsword staggered.
Even so, he didn't fall.
In desperation, he swung the greatsword.
Claude-san lowered his body.
The massive blade passed over his head.
He spun around without stopping.
Another flash.
This time, he struck the man's leg.
The man's knee buckled.
"Not yet!"
He tried to use the greatsword to stand back up.
But Claude-san's sword was already at his throat.
"It's over."
"............"
The man with the greatsword looked at Claude-san.
A few seconds later.
His grip loosened.
The greatsword fell onto the dirt.
It hit the ground with a heavy thud.
"One down...!"
I heard Felicia's voice.
But then.
"Don't look!"
"!"
The Sword Saint in front of me rushed in all at once.
His sword.
I twisted my body.
I couldn't dodge it completely.
The blade bit into my left shoulder.
"Guh!"
Blood sprayed.
My knees nearly buckled.
The man didn't stop.
With his fellow Sword Saint defeated, his attacks had clearly changed.
"I'll take you down and get through to the other side!"
Here he comes.
I blocked the first strike.
Dodged the second.
The third strike.
My cheek split open.
"Allen-san!"
"Don't come over!"
I stopped Felicia.
It would be dangerous for her to get this close.
I had to stop him myself.
I watched the man's body.
His shoulder.
His waist.
His feet.
Fast.
Even so, I was beginning to understand him bit by bit.
This man was better than me with a sword.
He had more experience, too.
In that case, I didn't have to try to surpass him with swordsmanship alone.
I had strengths of my own.
Strength.
Endurance.
Speed.
And more than that.
I had everything I'd gained up to now.
I looked at the Flamefang Sword.
There was a magic stone inside it.
Until now, I'd activated the stone by gripping the hilt and letting it absorb the magic it needed to produce flames.
But now I had Mana Control.
"............"
I turned my awareness inward.
Magic.
Normally, I'd just let the magic stone draw it out of me.
This time was different.
I would make it flow myself.
Into my right arm.
Into my palm.
And then into the Flamefang Sword.
"What are you doing?"
The Sword Saint furrowed his brow.
I sent magic into the sword.
The red magic stone embedded in the guard began to glow.
Whoosh!
Flames wrapped around the blade.
Just like usual.
No.
"Not yet."
I sent even more magic into it.
The red flames swelled larger.
They flickered as if they might break away from the blade.
The heat reached my cheek.
"Allen-san?"
I heard Felicia's voice.
This wouldn't work.
Simply pouring in more magic made the flames run wild.
Mana Control.
A Skill for handling magic quickly and precisely.
I focused on the flow and suppressed the magic that was spreading needlessly.
Along the blade of the Flamefang Sword.
Following the shape of the edge.
Thin.
Dense.
I wrapped the blade in magic.
"...!"
The flames changed.
The flames that had been flickering wildly drew together, clinging to the blade.
Red light traced the edge.
It was different from the Flamefang Sword I was used to.
It looked as if there were another blade inside the flames.
For the first time, the Sword Saint lost his composure.
"That sword..."
I could tell, too.
It felt different in my hands.
The sword itself hadn't changed.
But the magic flowing around the blade had become an extension of its edge.
"With this..."
I could do it.
The man stepped in.
Fast!
Even so, I could see him!
I remembered Claude-san's words.
Watch where your opponent wants to go.
Where did this man want to go?
He was heading for Claude-san.
He wanted to help his comrade.
In that case!
He would slip past me on the right.
The man swung his sword.
I didn't block it.
I took just one step back.
"!"
The man moved forward.
His body shifted to the right.
I knew it.
"There!"
I stepped in first.
The man's eyes widened.
I swung the Flamefang Sword.
Clang!
His sword caught it.
No.
He hadn't managed to block it completely.
"What...?!"
It was different from before.
The magic and flames covering the Flamefang Sword pressed against his blade.
The sound of metal scraping.
Sparks.
Red flames.
The man's sword trembled.
I put more strength into it.
"Guh!"
The man's arm was pushed back.
His sword was forced off to the side.
The instant his chest was exposed, I stepped in.
The man desperately tried to bring his sword back.
Fast.
As expected of a Sword Saint.
Our two swords collided again.
Bang!
A shower of sparks burst forth.
This time, the man's sword was knocked upward.
"What?!"
The sword slipped from his hand.
The blade spun in the air, reflecting the sunlight before embedding itself in the ground.
I was already moving forward.
I swung the Flamefang Sword.
The man pulled back.
But he didn't run.
"Not yet!"
He drew a dagger from his waist.
He thrust it at my stomach.
"!"
He meant to fight to the very end.
Then so did I!
I swung the Flamefang Sword through.
Red flames traced an arc.
Slash!
"Guh...!"
The blade cut deeply across the man's torso.
The dagger fell from his hand.
The man took one step.
Then another.
He staggered backward.
Even so, he kept looking at me for a while.
At last, his knees gave way, and he collapsed, motionless.
I stopped sending magic into the Flamefang Sword.
The dense red flames covering the blade quietly vanished.
Immediately afterward.
【Human Subjugation Confirmed】
【You acquired 5,000P】
"...Huh?"
I couldn't help looking at the display.
【You acquired 5,000P】
"Five thousand...?"
That was on a completely different scale from the people I'd defeated before.
It showed just how strong he was.
The Sword Saint.
A unique Skill so rare that one appeared only once every few years.
【Balance: 5,690P】
【Total P Acquired: 32,500P】
"............"
Five thousand.
Enough P to buy a unique Skill.
But now wasn't the time to think about that.
"Allen-san!"
Felicia's voice.
I raised my head.
A short distance away, the other Sword Saint, the one with the greatsword, was lying on the ground, too.
Claude-san lowered his sword.
The Twin Sword Saints.
Both of them had fallen.
And.
We weren't the only ones who'd seen it.
"...The Twin Sword Saints..."
A nearby Kingdom soldier murmured.
The soldier beside him looked, too.
"They've fallen...?"
The words spread.
"The Twin Sword Saints have been defeated!"
Someone shouted.
Then another voice, louder than before.
"We took down the Twin Sword Saints!"
"Both of the Empire's Sword Saints are dead!"
For an instant.
The sounds of the battlefield changed.
The Kingdom soldiers who'd been falling back stopped in their tracks.
The Imperial soldiers stopped moving, too.
The eyes of both sides turned toward the two fallen men.
And then.
"Uwoooooooh!"
A roar like the rumbling earth rose from the Kingdom side.
"We can do this!"
"Push them back!"
"Retake Seil Bridge!"
One voice after another joined in.
The soldiers who'd been exhausted moments ago faced forward again.
Shields rose.
Spears lined up.
Swords were drawn.
"Forward!"
A Kingdom knight raised his sword.
"We've taken down the Twin Sword Saints! Now it's our turn!"
"Uwoooooooh!"
The Kingdom army moved.
"Claude!"
Bork-san shouted.
"We can do it!"
"Yeah!"
Claude-san raised his sword.
"First Squad! We're pushing them back from here!"
"Right!"
"Yes!"
I tightened my grip on the Flamefang Sword, too.
"Allen-san!"
Felicia looked at my shoulder.
"You're going to fight with that wound?!"
"I can still move!"
"That's not the point—"
"Just three seconds!"
Cecil-san placed a hand on my shoulder.
White light covered the wound.
The heat began to fade.
"I can't heal it completely! Don't overdo it!"
"Thank you!"
I looked ahead.
The Imperial soldiers were starting to retreat.
The Twin Sword Saints had fallen.
That alone had sapped their momentum.
"Let's go!"
I kicked off the ground.
There were Imperial soldiers right in front of me.
"Here they come!"
Two of them.
No, three.
I knocked aside the first man's sword.
I swung the Flamefang Sword back at him.
【Human Subjugation Confirmed】
【You acquired 70P】
The second man thrust his spear at me.
I shifted to the side.
I moved inside the spearpoint's reach.
I cut him down.
【Human Subjugation Confirmed】
【You acquired 95P】
The third man.
"You monster!"
He raised his sword.
Too slow.
I'd just been fighting a Sword Saint.
The movements of ordinary soldiers looked clearer than ever before.
I stepped in.
One flash.
【Human Subjugation Confirmed】
【You acquired 60P】
Displays appeared one after another, then vanished.
I didn't have time to count them.
I just kept moving forward.
"Follow Allen!"
Raoul-san's voice.
Kingdom soldiers came from behind me.
"Uwooooooh!"
The Imperial front line crumbled.
"Don't fall back!"
"Hold formation!"
The Imperial commander shouted.
But nothing could stop them now.
"Bork!"
"Leave it to me!"
Bork-san pushed his greatshield forward.
He slammed into the Imperial soldiers' shield wall.
Thud!
One man.
Then another.
He shoved them back along with their shields.
"There's an opening!"
Raoul-san thrust his spear in from the side.
Between the shields.
At their legs.
At their shoulders.
The spearpoint darted out again and again.
"Lydia!"
"I know!"
She aimed her staff at the tightly packed Imperial soldiers.
"Fire Arrow!"
Flames flew.
They fell in front of the enemy, splitting their line in two.
"Now!"
"Magic Bullet!"
Felicia's white flashes flew.
Through the flames, she aimed for the hands of archers readying their bows.
Then a mage.
And then the shoulder of a man giving orders.
One after another, she stopped the enemy's attacks.
"They're circling around from the left!"
Ena-san ran.
The Imperial soldiers' attention was fixed on the front.
She slipped around their flank.
She got behind one of them.
Her dagger flashed.
"Guh!"
"The left side's open!"
Kingdom soldiers rushed in at her words.
"Push!"
"Get to the bridge!"
The battle line shifted west all at once.
A few minutes earlier.
We'd been pushed away from Seil Bridge.
Now it was the other way around.
The Imperial soldiers took one step back.
Then another.
They retreated toward the bridge.
"Don't fall back!"
An Imperial knight shouted angrily.
"If we let them through here—"
Before he could finish.
Claude-san moved inside his guard.
"Too slow."
One flash.
The knight fell.
"The commander has been taken out!"
The Imperial line wavered.
"Now!"
Kingdom soldiers pushed their shields forward.
Clang!
The Imperial soldiers were driven back onto the bridge.
Seil Bridge.
The place we'd fought over again and again since morning.
Broken spears and shields littered the stone bridge.
Many soldiers lay fallen, too.
Soldiers from both armies trampled over the bloodstained stones.
The wind rising from the river carried the smell of blood and smoke.
Even so, the Kingdom army didn't stop.
"Push!"
I ran, too.
Four men in front of me.
"Here they come!"
The first.
I knocked his sword aside.
I cut him down.
The second.
I dodged his spear.
I moved inside his guard.
The third came at me from the side.
I shifted my step and dodged his sword.
I swung the Flamefang Sword back at him.
【Human Subjugation Confirmed】
【Human Subjugation Confirmed】
【Human Subjugation Confirmed】
Displays appeared in my field of vision one after another.
Behind me, Claude-san was advancing, too.
One man.
Then another.
Before, there might have been soldiers who could keep up with Claude-san's speed.
But not now.
His body had been strengthened through Share.
And he already had the swordsmanship he'd honed over the years.
By the time an Imperial soldier swung his sword, Claude-san was already at his side.
His sword flashed once.
The soldier fell.
Then he moved on to the next enemy.
"What's with these guys?!"
"We can't stop them!"
Panic crept into the Imperial soldiers' voices.
"First Squad! Forward!"
"Yeah!"
Bork-san's shield.
Raoul-san's spear.
Lydia-san's flames.
Felicia's Magic Bullet.
Ena-san's voice.
At the rear, Cecil-san was treating the wounded and sending those who were able to return to the front line back into the fight.
It wasn't just First Squad.
Hundreds of Kingdom soldiers were advancing around us.
"Follow the ones who defeated the Twin Sword Saints!"
"Retake the bridge!"
"Drive the Imperial soldiers out of Sahar!"
Their voices rang across the bridge.
The Imperial soldiers looked back.
The west bank.
They still had allies there.
But they no longer had the momentum they'd shown that morning.
In front of them, the Kingdom army was surging forward.
Near the head of that advance was our group, the ones who'd defeated the Twin Sword Saints.
"It's impossible..."
An Imperial soldier murmured.
"Even the Sword Saints..."
"Fall back!"
Another voice rose.
"Fall back to the west bank!"
That was the first.
One man ran.
A second followed him.
"Wait!"
The commander tried to stop them, but it was already too late.
Imperial soldiers began running west across the bridge one after another.
"They're running!"
"Pursue them!"
The Kingdom soldiers surged forward even more.
The center of the bridge.
They crossed it and kept advancing.
The Imperial soldiers could no longer even retreat while fighting.
We chased after the Imperial soldiers running toward the west bank.
But then.
"Allen!"
Claude-san called out.
"Yes!"
"Don't pursue them too far!"
"...Yes!"
I stopped.
This wasn't enemy territory.
Our objective wasn't to cut down every last Imperial soldier.
It was to defend Seil Bridge.
The Imperial soldiers continued crossing to the west bank.
The last soldier left the bridge.
"Halt!"
A Kingdom knight's voice rang out.
"Secure the bridge!"
Kingdom soldiers lined up their shields at the west end of the bridge.
Their spears pointed forward.
Archers took up positions behind them.
Seil Bridge.
It was completely back in the Kingdom army's hands.
"............"
For a moment.
No one cheered.
The wind swept across the bridge.
Broken spears.
Shattered shields.
Fallen soldiers.
Blood left on the stone pavement.
The marks of battle stretched from one end of the bridge to the other.
The Imperial soldiers who'd retreated to the west bank were looking at us, too.
The bridge they'd invaded.
Their comrades left behind there.
And the fallen Twin Sword Saints.
A murmur spread among the Imperial soldiers as they looked at the carnage.
Before long, a low horn sounded from the west.
Bwoooooo—.
Once.
After a short pause.
Then again.
The Imperial soldiers began moving away from the bridge.
"...Are they retreating?"
Felicia murmured.
Claude-san gazed into the distance.
"Yeah."
The Imperial flags turned west one by one.
Infantry.
Archers.
Cavalry.
Even the units in the rear began to move.
"The Imperial army is pulling back!"
One of the Kingdom soldiers shouted.
"They're retreating!"
"The Imperial army is retreating!"
It was then.
"Uwooooooooooh!"
A cheer loud enough to shake the entire bridge rose up.
"We won!"
"We retook Seil Bridge!"
"We drove the Imperial army back!"
Swords were thrust into the air.
Spears were raised.
The sounds of soldiers striking their shields rang out one after another.
Clang!
Bang!
Thud!
The sounds overlapped, filling the bridge along with the cheers.
"We did it!"
"We survived!"
"We defended the bridge!"
The soldiers clapped one another on the shoulders.
Some embraced.
Others sat down where they stood, laughing and crying.
"That's amazing..."
Raoul-san looked around.
"We were about to lose a minute ago."
"We haven't won."
Claude-san said.
"They could come back."
"Let us enjoy this moment, at least."
"Yeah, you're right."
Unusually, Claude-san smiled.
"Allen-san!"
Felicia looked at me.
She was smiling happily.
"We took it back!"
"Yes."
I looked at the bridge, too.
The Kingdom's flag was brought over.
Amid cheers, the soldiers planted it in the center of the bridge.
The flag billowed in the wind.
Beyond it.
The Imperial army was slowly disappearing into the distance.
"...We protected it."
I said softly.
"Yes."
Felicia had heard me, apparently.
She looked at my shoulder.
"So please let me treat you now."
"You're right."
"I really mean it."
"Okay."
Just then.
"Hey!"
Bork-san's booming voice.
I turned around.
"Why are today's heroes standing off to the side?!"
"Heroes?"
"You two!"
Raoul-san was laughing, too.
"You're the ones who defeated the Twin Sword Saints!"
The Kingdom soldiers nearby looked our way.
"...That boy?"
"A boy defeated a Sword Saint?!"
"Didn't they say he was fifteen?"
"Really?"
This was bad.
Everyone was starting to look our way.
"Hey!"
One soldier raised his sword.
"Those are the adventurers who defeated the Twin Sword Saints!"
"Uwooooooh!"
Another cheer rose up.
"............"
I reflexively looked at Claude-san.
"What should we do?"
"No idea."
"You too, Claude-san."
"Me, too?"
"Of course."
Raoul-san laughed.
The soldiers' cheers grew even louder.
"First Squad!"
"First Squad!"
"Well done!"
Bork-san lifted his greatshield.
"Uwooooooh!"
The cheer answered him.
"Bork-san, you seem pretty energetic."
"You gotta go along with it at a time like this!"
Lydia-san was smiling, too.
Ena-san's expression was as usual, but the corners of her mouth had lifted just a little.
Cecil-san continued treating the wounded, looking exasperated.
Felicia smiled beside me.
As I listened to their voices.
I looked west once more.
The Imperial army was retreating.
The Kingdom's flag flew over Seil Bridge.
We'd protected this bridge.
Total P Acquired = 32,935P