Two great men were going to clash beneath the bright sun today.
On the Beta Plains, west of Berwick—the easternmost city of the Garnet Empire—two armies awaited the beginning of the battle.
On the eastern side was Lance Garnet’s army of seventy thousand. They stood in a simple line abreast formation—the Knights of the Blue Wolf at the center, with the Knights of the Black Dragon and the neutral faction reinforcements to the right and left, parallel to them. Lance was at the rear, taking command of the entire army.
On the western side were Arthur Garnet’s forces of a hundred thousand, in a triangle formation with the apex facing east, with Arthur at its center. While this was a good formation for charges, it wasn’t usually employed in open-field battles, as it prioritized attack over defense. That wasn’t an issue for them, though, as they outnumbered their opponents.
“That’s Arthur for you—focusing totally on offense. He’s confident in his victory, and rather than go for a safer formation, he prioritizes crushing the enemy,” Lance said with a wry smile, Caim and Millicia standing next to him. “We somehow managed to gather seventy thousand, and the enemy is a hundred thousand. It’s going to be a great battle that will go down in history.”
“How can you be so carefree, Lance...” Millicia complained, exasperated by her brother. If not for his retainers around them, she would have smacked him on the head.
“Well, I thought the difference would be larger, so I consider us lucky that it ended up being only thirty thousand. I wonder if that was thanks to the chaos I created here and there.”
“You talked about that before, but what did you actually do?”
“Just some nonsense. Anyway, time to get started.” Lance clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention. “Positions, everyone. Knowing Arthur, he won’t attack us until we’re ready. We may be outnumbered, but don’t be afraid. Give it your all!” Even now, Lance was as flippant as always, as though they were going on a picnic.
“I guess we can say that he has nerves of steel, in a way... Is that another quality you need to be a great ruler?” Caim cocked his head as he moved to his position. He leaped into the sky and fixed himself in place with a mana foothold, looking over the enemy army. The weather was perfect, without a single cloud, as though God was sneering at the humans below who went to war for foolish reasons. “Well then, time to use that big attack I promised.”
Caim glared coldly at the enemy forces with his mana-reinforced sight. When he focused his eyes on Arthur, he noticed that Arthur was glancing back at him.
“Hmph...”
Arthur moved his mouth, and though Caim couldn’t hear him, he was certain the prince had said, “Don’t look down on the overlord.”
“Say that after you’ve won,” Caim said. “If you lose here, there won’t be any overlord or conqueror left to speak of.” Caim grinned savagely, gathering a huge amount of the poisonous purple mana he had inherited from the Poison Queen.
“Purple Poison Magic—Tartarus!” That was the Poison Queen’s strongest spell, the one she had used to slaughter armies—and it also was the strongest attack Caim had ever used since becoming the Poison King.
A toxic wind surged toward the western army like a muddy torrent, as though the land of death itself had manifested on the battlefield.
The poisonous tsunami swept toward the hundred thousand soldiers of Arthur’s army. Everyone screamed in fear as the purple wind drew near them, clearly understanding they were going to die. The ones in front were so terrified they froze in place.
However, this wasn’t going to be the end of the western army.
“Jeez, making me work right from the start...” A woman wearing a sensual robe—Merlin the Eye of Heaven, one of Arthur’s Twin Wings—appeared in the sky above the army and extended her right hand toward the toxic wind. “Highest Rank and Range Barrier Magic—Archangel Sanctuary!”
Several magic circles with geometric patterns appeared around Merlin, and a translucent dome covered the western army, protecting it from the poisonous spell. Only the soldiers who had gone too far ahead were caught in the attack.
“A barrier, huh...? Is that the same kind of magic Millicia uses?” Caim wondered. While it was similar, the scale and protective power had been completely different, and it had successfully repelled Caim’s strongest spell. “I thought barriers fell under the Sacred Arts.”
“After living as long as I have, I can at least do that much,” Merlin answered Caim’s monologue despite being hundreds of meters away. “I didn’t expect to meet the Poison Queen here. I made some preparations, but to think I’d need to use my trump card right from the start... You’ve really tired me out.”
“Do I look like a queen to you? I’m the Poison King,” Caim replied, irritated, and snapped his fingers, creating a spark that ignited the toxic gas in the air. “Poison Flare.”
The next instant, an immense explosion occurred. The western army was still protected by the barrier, but the fire created a black veil of smoke and soot around the battlefield.
“Now, attack!” Lance shouted to his army. Trumpets were blown, serving as the signal for them to move.
The eastern army obeyed, promptly charging toward Arthur’s forces.
Everything was going according to Lance’s plans. Caim would use a powerful spell, spread poison gas, then ignite it to obstruct the enemy’s sight, allowing the eastern army to attack by surprise.
“Stop cowering! Attack!” Arthur yelled. Cavalrymen spurred their horses into a gallop, and the foot soldiers charged with their spears. “Break through the enemy ranks and bring me Lance’s head!”
Caim’s massive spell and the gas explosion had frightened some of the soldiers, but Arthur’s outcry easily blew their fear away, and they charged toward the eastern army.
“Gaaah!”
“Ugh... Help...”
However, a few shrieks could be heard among Arthur’s forces. Several soldiers had been too close to the eastern army already, so they hadn’t been covered by Merlin’s barrier and had been showered in poison. Caim’s spell, Tartarus, was less virulent than his other spells in exchange for its wide range. It wasn’t lethal and could only paralyze.
Because of that, their final moments were truly pitiful—unable to move, lying on the ground, they were trampled by the countless soldiers and cavalrymen of the two charging armies.
“Damn iiiiiit!” cried one of the collapsed soldiers who had been on the front line—a member of the Knights of the Black Dragon, who had betrayed Lance. Befitting of traitors, they died in agony as they were trampled to death.
“I can’t get enough of this. The air, the smell—this must be what they mean by feeling right at home,” Arthur said with a manic, joyful laugh.
The scent of scorched soot in the air from the aftermath of Caim’s explosion.
The sound of screams, battle cries, and weapons clashing.
The feeling of countless lives being reaped around him.
Arthur’s expression was truly content as he appreciated it all.
Arthur Garnet had been literally born on the battlefield. His mother had been visiting an allied country when a civil war broke out, which had forced her to give birth in the midst of battle. He was a child of war, and maybe that was why he could feel so much joy here, grinning gruesomely amid the slaughter.
“Jeez, our boss is so carefree,” Merlin, who had reappeared next to Arthur, commented, exasperated by her liege acting like a child making merry, while Gawain stayed silent on the other side.
“Oh, you’re back, Merlin.”
“Yes, and I’m veeeery tired.”
“Good work. We might have lost immediately if you hadn’t stopped that spell. You did great.”
“I didn’t do ‘great’... Jeez, that’s why I hate Demon Lord classes. I end up completely exhausted every time I fight one...” While she looked like a beautiful woman, Merlin was actually several hundred years old. She had fought Demon Lord-class beings like the Poison Queen in the past, so she knew how fearsome they could be. “The Sea Fiend of Delta, who created a void no boat can pass in the northern sea; the mad Handsome Monkey God, who came from another realm; the Invisible Vampire, who arrived here from beyond the stars; and now, the Poison Queen, who destroyed entire nations. Demon Lord classes are all immortal monsters whose very presence produces chaos. Honestly, I don’t think you ought to rely on my foresight for the rest of this war.”
“I didn’t think he would be that much of a threat... That damn Millicia, she truly caught herself an outrageous man,” Arthur muttered, impressed.
Millicia had always been like that. She had no desire, no ambition—and yet, in the end, she was the one who’d always had it the best. She was blessed with immense fortune at every turning point in her life, as though she were loved by God.
“Lance and I always envied that side of her... Oh well, that’s nothing new.” Most thought Arthur had the advantage and would win, but Arthur himself was different. He suspected the goddess of victory was on Lance’s side. “And that’s why this will be a worthy challenge. By defeating Lance, who has Millicia as his goddess of victory, I’ll prove that I am the true overlord!”
“Well, I hope you’ll manage to do it, but don’t expect much from me. I’m already down to twenty percent of my mana.” Merlin shrugged. She had made it look easy when she’d stopped Caim’s spell, but the truth was that she had used up most of her mana and wouldn’t be able to use any more large-scale magic. “The Poison Queen...or rather, he vanished in the explosion, so we need to stay close to you.”
They had lost sight of Caim, and from their fight against him at the imperial palace, they knew he was strong enough that he may be able to defeat Arthur in a one-on-one battle. So Gawain and Merlin had to stay with Arthur to prevent him being ambushed while they were away.
“If that was his intention, then I guess he’s rather clever. Still, I wonder why the Poison Queen became a man...”
“I don’t care about any of that.” Arthur interrupted Merlin. “No matter who my opponent is, if they stand in my way, I’ll crush them. They could be a Demon Lord, God, anything—I’ll overcome all enemies and hardships to become emperor. That’s all there is to it.”
Gawain and Merlin fell silent.
Arthur’s declaration went beyond courage—it was just plain reckless. And yet, Arthur Garnet was a man who always followed through on his words. He was stronger than anyone and knew no fear. That was why Gawain and Merlin had decided to make him the next emperor.
“Let’s go. We shall head straight into Lance’s camp,” Arthur declared.
“Understood.”
“Fine. You truly are a slave driver...”
With Arthur at its center, the western army advanced, pushing toward the eastern army using their strength and advantage in numbers.