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Another fierce struggle was raging on the right flank of the battlefield.
“Advance! Don’t fall behind Prince Arthur!”
“Break through their ranks and crush them!”
The Knights of the Red Tiger from the western army were full of ardor as they rushed toward the enemy. All of their members were viscounts and lower nobles, so the way they fought wasn’t as elegant as higher aristocrats, but as they hailed from remote regions, they had more battle experience than the Knights of the Silver Hawk. Their morale was high as they resolutely attacked their foes.
“Hold the line! We must stop them!”
Among the eastern army, the Knights of the Black Dragon were the ones defending against the assault. They were largely foreigners and mercenaries, and just the other day, their captain, Debardan, had left with half of the order’s knights. The former vice captain, Ikkaku, had stepped up to command in his place, and Lance had hired foreign mercenaries to fill the gap that the traitors had left, but they hadn’t had the time to train the mercenaries’ coordination. As a result, they were struggling against the Knights of the Red Tiger.
“Vice Captain Ikkaku! We can’t stop the enemy’s momentum!”
“If you’ve got the time to complain, then swing your sword! Also, it’s Captain Ikkaku now!” Ikkaku shouted at her subordinate as she wielded her spear on the front line. Being a beastfolk, she possessed extraordinary physical capabilities, which allowed her to easily mow down multiple enemy soldiers with each swing of her three-meter-long spear.
Unfortunately, even Ikkaku’s strength couldn’t stop the western army as they advanced.
Just as things were starting to look bleak for the eastern army...
“Grrraaaaow!” A beastly roar rang out, and the sudden appearance of a new warrior stunned both armies.
“A maid?!” exclaimed a knight from the western army, watching as one of his comrades was struck by a white tiger beastfolk in a maid’s uniform—Tea.
Tea swiftly swung her three-section staff, knocking down enemy after enemy. “Grrraow! I’m here to help!”
“You’re stronger than I expected!” Ikkaku commented, impressed. She’d met Tea beforehand, but hadn’t realized Tea was this powerful. True, tigerfolk—white tigers, in particular—were renowned for their might, but Tea had exceeded Ikkaku’s expectations. “Your name was Tea, right? The enemy is strong and numerous. Will that be an issue?”
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“Not at all! I’ll kill every last one of them!”
“Good! Then let’s go!”
Their conversation over, the two of them faced the enemy. They had only exchanged a few words, but perhaps because they were both beastfolk women, that had been enough for them to understand each other.
Ikkaku and Tea let out battle cries, leading the Knights of the Black Dragon’s counteroffensive.
Some might think that Tea taking the field wouldn’t change much, but there was a flow to every battle. Just when the western army had been launching an all-out assault, a woman in a maid’s uniform had appeared and had begun defeating their soldiers one after another. It had dampened the western army’s morale, and that in turn had changed the tide of battle.
“Come on! You can’t lose to a couple of women!” A man yelled, stepping forward. He wore bright red armor, and his hair of the same color stood straight up in spikes like fiery flames. “You’re pathetic! Do you really want to shame your ancestors like this?”
“Who is that?” Tea asked.
“He’s the captain of the Knights of the Red Tiger—Diague Kurs!” Ikkaku groaned.
Diague Kurs commanded the Knights of the Red Tiger. Despite being the eldest son of a viscount house, he wasn’t named the heir because his mother was only a concubine. Instead, he had joined the knight order. He was daring, resolute, and fought like a tempest, which had caught Arthur’s eye and earned him a quick promotion to the rank of captain.
“We can’t fall behind the Silver Hawks! This is our shot at glory, so don’t disgrace yourselves in front of our liege!” Diague shouted.
The Knights of the Red Tiger were made up of lower-ranking nobles and were always competing with the Knights of the Silver Hawk, who were higher aristocrats. This rivalry was a great source of motivation for Diague and his men, and by achieving success in this war—for example, by managing to kill the enemy’s supreme commander, Lance—the Red Tigers could prove that they were better than the Silver Hawks.
“Hah!” Diague swung his halberd down at Tea, who quickly leaped back to dodge. The blow struck the ground instead, cracking the earth. Had Tea been any slower, she would have met the same end.
“Grrraaow! That one is very strong!”
“Of course he is! That’s how he became the leader of the Knights of the Red Tiger!” Ikkaku replied. “He defeated the special forces of an enemy nation all by himself, armed with only his halberd! He’s a match for a hundred, so be careful!”
“Follow Captain Diague’s lead! Charge!” yelled one of the enemy soldiers. The Knights of the Red Tiger had recovered their momentum thanks to Diague’s appearance.
“Let’s go, boys! Exterminate the enemy!” Diague ordered, taking the lead.
Tea readied herself. The tide of battle had returned to equilibrium, but that could change at any moment.
“AAAAAAH!” However, something unexpected happened that stopped both the western and eastern armies in their tracks. A shadow suddenly leaped out of the earth and ripped into Diague’s body with sharp claws.
“Gah! No way...” Diague gasped before collapsing in a pool of his own blood. Even a strong warrior like him could easily be defeated by a surprise attack.
“Stop taking me for a foooool! I’m gonna massacre you allllllll!”
“Captain Debardan...” Ikkaku muttered, dumbfounded.
Indeed, the one who had suddenly leaped out of the ground was the former captain of the Knights of the Black Dragon—Debardan. He had served Lance until he gave in to the temptation of the Ladies of the Lake and switched to Arthur’s side. As he was a traitor, he wasn’t trusted, and so he had been positioned on the front lines. That meant he should have been swallowed by Caim’s Tartarus—and yet, here he was.
“What are you doing, Captain Debardan?” Ikkaku asked her former boss. Why had he killed the captain of the Knights of the Red Tiger, who should have been his allies? Confused, Ikkaku couldn’t help but demand an explanation. “Didn’t you defect to Prince Arthur? So why did you—”
“Shut up!” Debardan snapped at Ikkaku, glaring at her with bloodshot eyes. “Shutupshutupshutup! Just SHUT UP! Every last one of you... You’re all taking me for a fool! What’s so bad about being a mercenary?! Stop looking down on me, you worthless trash! Diediediediediedie—I’m gonna kill you all!”
Ikkaku gasped. Debardan, completely lost to his wrath, was now attacking nearby soldiers with his sharp claws.
As she was meeting him for the first time, Tea couldn’t know this, but Debardan wasn’t just a foreigner—he was also a molefolk. He had most likely avoided Caim’s spell by burrowing into the ground.
“DIIIIIIIEEEEEE!” Debardan continued to slaughter western and eastern soldiers alike, one after another.
“Wh-What is happening...?”
“Focus, Ikkaku! This is our chance!” Tea shouted encouragingly to Ikkaku, who was bewildered by her former captain’s behavior. “The enemy is in disarray after the death of their leader! If we act now, we can defeat them easily!”
“You’re right. We must make use of this opportunity.” Ikkaku nodded and instructed her subordinates to attack.
“Tea will take care of that weird man!”
“Thank you... Please put him to rest,” Ikkaku said with pity in her voice before leading her subordinates in the charge against the Knights of the Red Tiger.
“GRAAAAAAAAAH!” Debardan screamed.
“Just you wait! I’m gonna kill you!” Tea stared at Debardan. In all honesty, his sudden appearance had saved them. He had killed the enemy leader, creating the opportunity for them to counterattack and reverse the tide. “We don’t need you anymore, though. It’s time for you to leave this world!”
A burst of powerful mana erupted from Tea. As a beastfolk, magic wasn’t her speciality, but she was good at using mana to strengthen her body. Moreover, having sex with Caim so often had increased her mana reserves by the day—and more mana meant more strength.
“Huh?! Don’t get in my way, woman!” Debardan turned toward Tea, having noticed her intention to fight. He brandished his sharp claws and snarled to intimidate her.
“Grrraow! Stop talking and bring it on. Kill or be killed—such is the law of the beastfolk!”
“Then die!”
Debardan took a stance with his claws, and Tea threw away her three-section staff, leaving her weaponless.
Tigerfolk versus molefolk. Beastfolk versus beastfolk. They faced each other bare-handed using the original fighting style of their wild, primal races.
“GRAAAAAAAAH!”
“GRRRAAAOOW!”
The battle reached its conclusion in an instant. Their claws crossed. One pair of claws shattered, while the other tore the opponent to shreds.
“Ugh...”
“It’s my win,” Tea declared, victorious. Debardan’s blood dripped from her claws, falling onto the ground. Strengthened by a huge amount of mana, her nails could easily tear apart even solid stone.
“Why...? No... Where did I go wrong...?”
“Who knows? But at the very least, it was a mistake to challenge Tea. Between a tiger and a mole, there’s one obvious winner.”
“Yeah... True enough...” Debardan collapsed, a massive quantity of blood gushing from his wounds.
If Debardan had remained calm, he could have fought in another way, such as burrowing underground. His betrayal of Lance had led to Arthur using him, and the wrath it had incurred had brought Debardan to his death.
With neither glory nor money, the man who had once stood at the head of an army now passed away, becoming one corpse among many on the battlefield.