Chapter 99
A little earlier.
On a cliff overlooking the Belia Plateau, fifty cavalrymen watched the battlefield.
The soldiers stroked their horses' necks, trying to calm them and quiet their neighing, but the ones who needed calming were the soldiers themselves, not the horses.
They had begun moving as soon as the battle started, taking a wide detour to reach this position. All that remained was to charge into the enemy's rear, but no order to charge had been given yet.
That was because Captain Al and Deputy Commander Ray, who effectively ran the unit, remained motionless with their eyes closed.
The soldiers under them did not object to their commanders remaining still.
They were waiting for the right moment to strike.
They had managed to get behind the enemy, but only fifty men were here. That was far too few to break through the enemy headquarters. If they failed to attack at the perfect moment, they would be crushed with ease.
They had been entrusted with the key role in the strategy as the army's trump card; if they failed, it would mean defeat—and the destruction of the soldiers fighting on the front line.
They could not afford to act rashly.
They knew that, but from this position, where they could survey the entire battlefield, the front line was all too clearly visible.
Thinking of their comrades fighting desperately, they unconsciously tightened their grips on the reins.
The tension and impatience spread to the horses, and even the trained warhorses began to grow restless.
There was movement on the battlefield. The area behind the front line, around the headquarters, suddenly grew hectic. The antfolk must have dug a hole in the rear and emerged from it.
They had expected this beforehand, but knowing it would happen did not stop them from worrying.
Lady Romelia, the army's de facto commander in chief, was in the rear. Every soldier was frantic at the thought of her being killed.
Most of the soldiers held some degree of admiration for Lady Romelia.
At first, everyone had hated her.
A noblewoman was interfering in a war.
They assumed she was acting on a whim or had misunderstood something, and was intoxicated by the idea of standing on a battlefield.
They wanted nothing to do with playing along with her, and even less to do with following the reckless strategy of a woman playing at being a saint.
But when they actually met her, she proved to be an exceptionally capable and levelheaded commander.
She went to the front herself, riding a horse across the battlefield. Even on foot marches that were grueling for soldiers, she took the lead without complaint, despite wearing light gear and carrying no baggage. Whenever someone was wounded, she came to visit them.
But more than anything, what made the soldiers admire her was the way she attended the funerals of the fallen. She never showed tears as a commander, but she would stand before the gravestone until the very end, sometimes for hours.
The only blemish on her record was that, in peacetime, she conducted devilishly strict training and never tolerated laziness among the soldiers. But no one complained. Anyone who saw her standing before those gravestones was inspired to try harder.
Many soldiers admired Lady Romelia, who possessed both severity and compassion.
With the headquarters under attack, they could not remain calm. But since Captain Al and Deputy Commander Ray had not moved, they could neither act nor voice an objection.
Every soldier admired Lady Romelia, but the twenty men who had followed her since the earliest days—the members of what was commonly called the Romelia Squad—were in a class of their own.
Though they were recruits gathered only this year, they had awakened through repeated battles against powerful enemies. Everyone in the unit recognized their strength, and lately their reputation had begun to spread beyond Cashew.
Lady Romelia placed great trust in them, and they were always at the heart of the army's strength as her most reliable soldiers.
Their loyalty was naturally strong. When ordered to fight, they did so with fearless courage and no regard for their own lives.
Captain Al was considered her most trusted subordinate, possessing both great skill and unwavering loyalty. As for Deputy Commander Ray, the soldiers' consensus was that Ray's feelings had gone beyond admiration—Ray loved her.
Those two must have wanted to rush to her side more than anyone. Since neither of them moved, the others could not possibly interfere.
Just as the soldiers were struggling to restrain their impatience, an explosion suddenly erupted on the battlefield.
The battlefield was far away, so the sound and shock that reached them were faint, but the impact it had on the soldiers felt as though the explosion had happened right in front of them.
"The front line is collapsing!"
"An explosive magic stone?!"
"Damn the Kingdom of Hameil!"
The soldiers who had maintained silence until then let out involuntary cries.
When they looked toward their commanders, Captain Al was staring at the battlefield with wide eyes, while Ray's grip on the reins had tightened as well.
Fire burned in Al's eyes as Al stared at the battlefield, his grip tightening around the spear.
The soldiers held their breath, thinking that they would finally ride out—but surprisingly, Ray stopped them.
"Wait. Look at that."
Ray pointed toward the rear, where the headquarters was located.
The rear had been attacked from underground, and a gap had opened in the front line, allowing the enemy to break through.
It was already difficult to distinguish friend from foe. The battlefield had become a chaotic stew, and though the lily-of-the-valley flag was still flying, it could be swallowed up at any moment.
It was a desperate situation with not a moment to spare, yet the deputy commander pointing toward it was even wearing a faint smile.
"Magnificent!"
Anger and distrust boiled up among the soldiers at the deputy commander's exclamation, but when they looked down at the battlefield, even that anger was blown away.
Amid the chaos of the battlefield, something strange was happening.
Enemy and ally were intermingled, yet soldiers had begun gathering beneath the lily-of-the-valley flag.
Amid the confusion, the soldiers were acting in an organized manner. They gathered beneath the flag, and rescued allies who had become isolated.
The antfolk swarm surged forward all at once to crush the soldiers gathered in one place. But the soldiers endured the attack like a tsunami, then, the instant they saw the enemy's momentum weaken, advanced in unison, drove the antfolk back, and rebuilt the battle line.
"I can't believe it."
One of the soldiers let out an awed cry. It spoke for everyone. They could not believe that, after falling into such a chaotic melee, the soldiers had restored the battle line. What was more, a well-ordered defensive line was taking shape on the battlefield.
There was movement on the front line as well.
An opening had been blasted in the line by an explosive magic stone, and enemies were pouring through. Then one soldier seemed to spring back to life and began mowing down the antfolk like dry branches.
"Is that Captain Otto?"
Small, guileless, quiet, and mild-mannered, Otto was nonetheless the strongest of the Romelia Squad—and now was scattering the enemy like a demon.
Otto's broad swings left large openings, but Deputy Commander Kyle guarded Otto's flank and kept the enemy at bay.
Reinforcements were sent from the rear at once, and the gap was completely sealed.
Seeing that the front line had been sealed, an assault force burst from the rear defensive line. They intended to rout the enemy's main force threatening the rear.
"Hey, isn't that Romelia-sama over there?"
One of the soldiers pointed toward the assault force. From this distance, it was almost impossible to tell, but a glimpse of white armor was visible.
"Again? This is far too dangerous!"
Lady Romelia always wanted to go to the front. It made the soldiers frantic, and they lamented that her bad habit had surfaced again today—but something was different this time.
The assault force had emerged, but instead of charging straight ahead, they veered right and left, racing back and forth across the battlefield.
Their speed was astonishing. Despite cutting straight through the enemy formation, they did not slow down; if anything, they seemed to accelerate. In an instant, they tore through the enemy ranks and joined up with the comrades who had been left behind.
The force they faced was probably made up of enemy elites, but whenever a few soldiers charged, they swept the enemy away at once.
"Amazing! We did it!"
They had rebuilt the rear defensive line, successfully sealed the gap in the front line, and destroyed the enemy's main force that had been threatening the rear. With that, they had crushed every one of the antfolk's tactics.
Seeing the fierce fighting in the rear, the soldiers tightened their grips on the reins.
With their strategy foiled, the antfolk had no choice but to commit the main force they had kept in reserve.
As expected, the unit of royal guard ants protecting the King Ant began to advance. This was their chance.
Now!
Many of the soldiers there thought they heard Lady Romelia's voice.