While Raid was leading the charge and mowing down Calamities, Ariel was busy eliminating Offspring. The rest of the main army had now fully disembarked onto land and were following closely behind her.
“Squads entering urban terrain, stay vigilant! Take advantage of mid-sized structures in the area—hide in the shadows and ambush your targets from their blind spots! Don’t let a single one of them get away!”
Ariel swung a sword materialized from her mana while barking out orders. They had to secure their formation to leave some wiggle room for the rearguards coming up.
“Ariel,” called Dian from the communicator. “Once we enter urban terrain, I’ll hold my position on the front line—buy time for the others to get rid of all the Offspring, then regroup and face the approaching wave together.”
“Roger. Valtos, status report!”
“Ha... Ha ha! I’m doing surprisingly well! Before my metalization, no Offspring can— Owww! It bit me! Ms. Alicia, Mr. Galleon, h-heeelp!”
Ariel breezily ignored Valtos’s screams. This wasn’t the first time he’d been bitten. Fortunately, he sounded like he still had a lot of energy to spare.
The task of the three Heroes in this operation was simple yet vital: to lead the charge and expand the war front. Dian clashed headfirst with the Offspring as their vanguard, Ariel followed behind him to fortify their formation with her ability, and Valtos stood in front of the main army of magicians as a shield and decoy, giving them more time and leeway to eliminate the Offspring around them. Through this, they gradually eradicated the enemies in their surroundings and expanded their formation in a circle around them. Ariel and Dian were working flawlessly thanks to all their experience fighting Offspring on the front lines.
The operation was smooth sailing. A lot of it was thanks to Raid leading the charge and getting rid of the Calamities for them, but there was more to it than just that.
“Supreme Commander Raid speaking,” called a voice over the communicator. “Due to the loss of the Calamities, the Offspring are now shifting eastward. Fifth regiment, provide support to the right. Eighth and ninth regiments, intercept in the plains three hundred meters ahead. Seventh regiment, finish eliminating your current targets, then shift to finishing off stragglers to the right.”
While dealing with the Calamities on the front line, Raid was also disseminating his orders and intel on the battlefield, such as the enemy’s locations and numbers. The commanding officers of the Hope’s Brigade assigned to each regiment received these orders and trickled them down to the troops, allowing Raid to perfectly move and command the entire army. Ariel surmised that Raid must also have been receiving individual reports from each regiment’s commander, compiling the information, and filtering it all back into relevant orders for each separate regiment.
Thanks to her experience leading troops, Ariel understood just how extraordinary a feat this was. While dealing with the Calamities—monsters even the First World Heroes couldn’t raise a finger against—Raid was also keeping track of the entire battlefield, disseminating intel to the troops, sorting through all the incoming reports, and giving out corresponding orders. Just thinking about it made Ariel’s head hurt. She had to wonder if Raid actually had a few extra ears or heads hidden somewhere.
But that wasn’t all. Even more impressive was the fact that not a single person had been sacrificed in this operation. Despite the size and scale of this battle, they hadn’t even gotten any reports of major or fatal injuries. They had the prowess of the Second World magicians to thank for this, but also Eluria herself.
While maintaining a formation well suited to their long-range combat specialization, the magicians’ regiment also regularly swapped vanguards and rearguards so that nobody fought up front while fatigued. This led to higher alertness on the field and sharper decision-making in battle.
Magic was an immensely powerful weapon that could easily backfire on one’s allies if wielded carelessly. Every magician present understood how dangerous their weapon was, and so they took every precaution needed to prevent misfires and accidents on the field. This thoroughness also led to a better and clearer understanding of the battlefield.
All this was made possible by the efforts of Sage Eluria Caldwin, who understood not only the obvious positives of magic but also its hidden dangers. Because power beyond human wisdom came with unimaginable risks, she had prepared the foundation for these vital strategies and formations. These were then polished and refined across a thousand years, and although it came at the cost of close-quarters combat techniques, the Second World had now wholly inherited the Sage’s will.
Thus, the operation’s apparent lack of casualties was no doubt one of Eluria’s achievements. She had even made her own adjustments to the army’s composition and formations, all of which were now being led by the most experienced and skilled commander they could have ever asked for. With such extraordinary leaders, perhaps Ariel shouldn’t have expected anything less.
And more than anything—
“Ariel. Where d’ya think you’re going?”
Ariel whipped her head around and found Dian on the rooftop of a building.
“We’re done for the day once we suppress this southern city,” he continued. “Wasn’t the plan to crush the places where Offspring might be hiding and take shifts clearing out the more open spaces?”
“Y-Yeah...” Ariel cleared her throat, then jumped down beside him. “Sorry. I was absorbed in my thoughts.”
“Get it together. I know we’re only fighting Offspring, but let your guard down and they can still end you. Imagine a Hero being the first casualty of this operation... Hah.” Dian scoffed, but his lips soon settled into a comfortable smile. Ariel had spent much time with him as a fellow Hero, but this was her first time seeing him with such a lax expression. “Anyway, I get what you’re thinking. Until just a few months back, we never could’ve imagined carrying out an operation so smoothly.”
Ariel nodded. “That’s right. Through experience, we’ve managed to minimize our sacrifices...but things were much tougher back when we first became Heroes.”
For the longest time, sacrifice had been a forgone conclusion in their battles. This hadn’t changed even after Viteos had brought the Hero’s sword and the three Heroes came to be. Until now, Ariel and Dian had witnessed many of their subordinates die right before their very eyes.
But as she recalled those painful memories, Ariel muttered with a small smile, “What a joyous thing it is...to fight without any sacrifices.” She had always yearned for this, yet today she realized all over again what a wonderful thing it was—and she was certain that the man beside her would agree.
“Yeah... It really is.” Dian turned his gaze to the sky. “I’ve always been a sorry excuse for a Hero, watching so many people die and letting ’em offer their lives for some stupid plan the higher-ups cooked up... But if their deaths brought us to this day, then I think I can hold my head up high and thank them when we meet again in the afterlife.”
Born a commoner, Dian had watched some of the privileged class persecute those below them, birthing his hatred for plans that discarded people like pawns. As the Hero, he had to maintain a hierarchy with his troops, but whenever he held a bottle in hand and let the alcohol loosen his lips, Dian would call them his “companions.” And it was always on the days he lost one of these companions that he would go drinking to begin with.
Ariel knew that Dian was one of the most kindhearted people in the world. She knew that he was a caring soul who always looked out for his companions. And...
“I really...couldn’t ask for anything more...!”
And she also knew that he cried every time one of his precious companions died—just as he did now. Voice trembling, Dian turned his teary gaze to the skies in search of friends long gone.
✦ ✦ ✦
Ariel, too, did what she always did.
“You’re such a crybaby, Dian.”
She put on a smile and gave his trembling shoulder a firm yet gentle pat.