Ankoku Kishi Monogatari ~Yuusha wo Taosu Tameni Maou ni Shoukansaremashita~

Chapter 177: Battle in The Forest II

◆Black Haired Sage; Chiyuki

The battle in the forest had begun.

I surveyed the battlefield using magic.

The combined forces of the dwarves and elves faced off against the orc army.

「Chiyuki-san. It seems we made it just in time.」

「Yeah, Nao-san. The golems in that area are holding their ground.」

I spoke to Nao.

We had managed to halt the orc army just before they could reach the elven capital, Arseidia.

Since we had no idea where the orcs were coming from, we stationed our golem force in all directions around Arseidia.

That’s why the first unit to encounter the invaders had to focus on stalling them, buying time until reinforcements arrived.

Thanks to that, the reinforcements made it in time.

The real battle to defend Arseidia had only just begun.

The heavy cavalry of the Phaia, the name for great boars in this world, couldn’t breach the defence of the orichalcum golems.

Not even the orcs, with their immense strength, could break the golems' defence.

Once the cavalry was halted, the elven archers could attack the orcs from a distance.

Despite the orcs’ attempts to chase the elves, the boar riders' charge was no match for the agility of the elven cavalry.

They had no hope of catching the elven knights riding their ceryneia.

Under the command of Tamriel, the elven knight, the elven forces fired their arrows upon the orcs.

Since the elves' arrows were enchanted with magic, they were powerful enough to pierce the tough hide of the orcs.

As a result, no matter how much stamina the orcs had, their numbers were slowly but steadily dwindling.

「It's our turn now. We need to deal with the goblins in this area.」

I glanced at the goblins.

The armies of the elves and dwarves were focusing their forces on the orcs.

And by "focusing," I meant they were deploying everything they had.

The battlefield could be turned upside down if the orcs used a detached force to attack Arseidia at this very moment.

I wasn’t sure how many enemies we faced, but we had to stop those goblins at all costs.

The goblins' dissonance wind had already been neutralized by Rino’s magic.

This particular magic, which disturbed sound, was something I disliked for the strange voices and speech it caused.

Shirone led the charge toward the location of the goblin leader.

The silver witch had already disappeared somewhere.

Well, it wasn’t a big deal—I hadn’t counted on her as part of our force from the very start, so I hadn’t expected her help.

Once the wind ceased, Rino’s singing voice rang out.

The goblins, who despised beautiful singing, began to flee, tails between their legs.

「Nao-san. Guide these captives. I’ll keep watch.」

「Roger that!」

Nao transformed into her beastman form and began running.

Since Rino’s beautiful voice didn’t affect humans, they remained unaffected.

Nao led the captive humans to a safer location.

The greenmen, summoned by Rino, appeared next.

She wanted them to protect the human captives for the time being.

I scanned our surroundings with magic, just in case we encountered enemies other than humans.

That was my duty as the lookout.

Their forces couldn’t be that large.

If it were, they would’ve left some trace behind.

Naturally, it would be a different story if it were a powerful opponent, like the Serpent Prince.

The battle in the sky had just begun as well.

I turned my attention to the fight above.

Alphos, in his knight form, was clashing with the Serpent Prince.

I had always thought the God of Song and Srt had no business with combat, but he seemed to be quite strong.

The Serpent Prince was being pushed back by the combined attack of Alphos and the heavenly army.

It looked like I wouldn’t need to intervene in the aerial battle.

That’s when it happened.

My magic alarm went off, signalling an incoming danger.

Something was coming toward us.

I conjured a magic shield just in time to block a magic bullet that nearly hit me.

「Blocked, eh? Seems I need to hide more carefully.」

I looked toward the source of the magic bullet and saw a woman with the lower half of a snake.

At first, I thought she was a lamia, but a closer inspection revealed she was different.

She had horns growing from her temples, and the amount of magical power she exuded was far beyond that of a lamia.

Her magic bullet had been strong enough to shatter part of my shield.

「Who are you?」

「What a blunder. To think the comrade of the Hero of Light would be here too. Rather, why are you in this place? I’ve never heard of you coming here.」

The horned lamia spoke as she eyed me, as though I was nothing more than an obstacle. She hadn’t expected to encounter us here.

「Since your lower body is that of a snake, I assume you’re allied with the Serpent Prince. And I have no obligation to answer your question.」

With that, I readied my cane and used communication magic to contact my comrades.

I might not be able to stop her on my own.

「Black-Haired Sage Chiyuki. I’ve been looking for you. You seem strong, but I doubt you can defeat me, the Great Botis. I’m going to make you tell me why you’re lurking here, even if I have to do it by force.」

The lamia, now revealed to be Botis, gripped her dagger in a reverse hold. A huge gem was embedded in the pommel of the dagger.

It seemed to serve as both a weapon and a cane for her, combining the functions of both in one form.

「WE'VE GOT AN EMERGENCY, CHIYUKI-SAN! THE SNAKES ARE COMING THIS WAY!」

I received an urgent message from Nao.

It seemed Botis wasn’t the only one coming in our direction.

The others were likely heading toward Shirone and Rino as well.

Since I had no choice, I’d have to face Botis by myself.

「HERE I COME, CHIYUKI! THE TUMOR IN THIS LAND WILL BE EXPELLED BY ME, BOTIS!」

◆Sword Maiden; Shirone

「A-Angel-sama… Please save us.」

The human woman by the goblin prince’s side bowed, pleading with me.

It seemed she had mistaken me for an angel, but explaining that would definitely be a hassle.

「Don't worry, I came to save you. Step back since I'm going to kill this guy.」

「HIIIIIIII!」

The moment I spoke, the goblin prince flinched back, squealing in fear.

I had learned a bit about goblin ecology from Chiyuki-san.

In their male-dominated society, members of royalty always had a horn protruding from their heads.

The horned goblin possessed a power no other goblin had and typically led their tribe.

That’s why, even if a goblin was the king's son, they wouldn’t be recognised as royalty unless they had a horn.

A goblin tribe without a horned leader was like a tribe without direction—it weakened them and eventually led to their enslavement by another tribe.

This was why the horned goblin was considered the most important treasure in goblin society.

However, in rare cases, if two or more horned goblins were born into a tribe, it would spark a political dispute for the throne.

And since the likelihood of a horned goblin being born from a horned father was high, the one who became king could establish a harem.

It wasn’t just a harem of female goblins; other races were also included.

But since many goblin kings preferred female humans, their harems were mostly composed of them.

In short, this goblin prince had been abducting human women.

He had to die.

「DON'T SCREW WITH ME! THE GREAT ME, WHO SHALL BECOME THE GREAT GOBLIN KING, WON'T DIE IN THIS PLACE!」

「The hell are you talking about?」

I readied my sword and stabbed the goblin prince's head.

Though goblin heads were famous for their toughness, which stopped almost all the common edged tools, my sword was an enchanted sword—it could slice a goblin's head as if it was butter.

The goblin prince, whose head had just been stabbed by my sword, wriggled for a while before he died.

He didn't die immediately, even though I had stabbed his head, his life force must be something else.

Seeing that, the other goblins who had been protecting him scrambled to be the first to escape.

Since goblins without a leader posed no real threat, I left them to be dealt with by others.

The women around me looked at me with pleading eyes, as if they, too, wanted to be saved.

I sighed, realising I’d have to escort them to safety.

「SHIRONE, ABOVE YOU!」

The moment I heard the shout, a magic shield deployed above my head.

A red beam struck the surface of the shield.

The shield lasted only a moment before the beam pierced it, along with the giant spider mount of the goblin prince.

Thanks to the shield, the red beam’s trajectory shifted slightly, causing it to miss its true target—me.

The women seemed to have been thrown from the giant spider’s back, but none were seriously injured, only suffering a few minor scrapes.

I looked up.

There, I saw a woman in a crimson dress floating in the sky above me.

「Be careful, Shirone. That woman is the Princess of Fresh Blood, Zaffrada.」

Before I could react, Kuna had already stepped in front of me, her scythe in hand.

She must have been the one to cast the magic shield that protected me earlier.

「Silver-Haired Girl… What are you doing here? Are you going to be a hindrance to our plan?」

Zaffrada glared at Kuna, her eyes filled with hostility.

「Plan? What do you mean?」

I asked, but Zaffrada ignored me, focusing entirely on Kuna.

「It seems you’re clueless about our plan, huh? Well, that’s no reason to let you go. I’ll have some fun with you.」

Zaffrada took a battle stance.

「Prepare yourself, Shirone! That woman is strong!」

「I know that!」

I never imagined this situation would lead to an alliance with the Silver Witch.

I readied my sword and pointed it directly at Zaffrada.

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