Rivage, younger brother of the King of Myzahn, felt a sense of discomfort as he watched over the battlefield. Of course, he didn’t let this distract him from using his magic to support his allies. As he rode across the battlefield atop a ribbon lizard, a type of mountbeast that could run swiftly on sand, the scenery around him changed rapidly.
Ribbon lizards were large, light brown manabeasts with ribbonlike bumps on their heads. They inhabited deserts and moved at great speeds to capture their prey. They were one of the most suitable species of mountbeast to use on sandy terrain. Their body color was normally the same as desert sand, but it changed to green in grasslands and gray in rocky areas. In the desert, flying mountbeasts were also convenient since they could move fast, but they stood out a lot, so they became easy targets. This ribbon lizard was the ideal mountbeast for Rivage in this situation.
I need to use my magic secretly—without anyone noticing. This military operation was going well thanks to Rivage’s mental recovery and sealing magics locking down the enemy’s movement and magic. His psychosomatic purification wasn’t particularly useful. At most, it could maintain a healthy environment for his allies. But in order to duplicate Robin’s magic, he’d needed to get both of his two magics as a set; it had been impossible to duplicate just one of them.
Rivage’s duplication magic had this restriction: If the person whose magic he was duplicating possessed multiple magics, he had to duplicate all of them together. Powerful kinds of magic often came with such restrictions. Probably only the legendary saints could use such magic without any limitations. This time, Rivage had wanted extremely rare magic that affected the mind, so he’d duplicate two kinds of magic from Robin.
But his magic is convenient on the battlefield. I may yet replace it with other magic in the future, but it’s really useful now.
Rivage was honestly confident that he was making better use of this magic than Robin ever had. During his time as the prince consort, Robin had been praised for his “sacred” magic, but his mana was lower than in the rumors. In fact, Rivage had heard that Robin hadn’t put much thought into using his magic, as he’d only managed to slow down people by using his mental recovery to briefly daze them. But Rivage could use mental recovery on a larger scale and prolong the dazed state. Being distracted on the battlefield was fatal. And thanks to Rivage’s mana reserves, he could use mental recovery and sealing on multiple people at once. With these two magics, he was invincible.
Polpystani soldiers retreated one after the other, so Myzahn seized this opportunity and stayed on the offensive. Rivage felt determined. But a short time later, the state of affairs started to change. His allies were gradually being pushed back.
What’s going on? Did something happen on the front lines? It feels like our forces are withdrawing. A cloud of dust rose beyond the crowd of soldiers. Small desert rats were running under their feet. Did a new magic user appear over there? Rivage moved forward quietly and smoothly atop his mountbeast. Amid the soldiers’ roars and the hot wind, he headed toward the place he’d sensed the abnormality.
Despite the perilous situation, small birds were flying overhead.
Of all times, the scouts I sent earlier haven’t returned. If Defi were here, he would have handled this with skill... But Rivage wasn’t lenient enough to keep someone after they’d committed a blunder. Even without Defi, Rivage could somehow handle this by himself. There was no need to regret losing a subordinate of such low caliber. To begin with, Defi’s loyalty and motivation had both been low.
As Rivage advanced, one of his scouts came scrambling back on his ribbon lizard.
“Your Highness, it’s an emergency!”
“What happened?”
“We were driving the Polpystanis back, but it seems that Desnimer reinforcements suddenly came to their aid.”
“I see, that’s why our allies are in such disarray. How pathetic. I’ll head out there once more...”
No matter who the enemy was, if Rivage used that magic, he should be able to quickly recover the situation. He was confident in their victory, so he left the scout behind and advanced. The nearby soldiers followed suit. Their morale was still high as they advanced after Rivage on their mountbeasts and horses. A short time later, a large, unfamiliar army appeared before Rivage.
Th-That’s the coat of arms of Desnim’s House of Florescruz. Which means those soldiers are from Sutrena?! Their territory was close to Polpystan, so they had likely been ordered to sortie. Does that mean that Nazelbart is also here? Nazelbart, the former prince consort candidate, was a dangerous foe, but if his magic was sealed, he would cease to be a threat. If I just hold Nazelbart back, the rest is just an unruly mob. They won’t stand a chance against us. Rivage was already in a triumphant mood, but an unbelievable scene entered his vision soon after.
“Wh-What’s wrong with those soldiers?!” A group of enemies before Rivage was doing the unthinkable: Even though the Myzahnis were landing their attacks, the enemy soldiers kept calmly advancing. Furthermore...
Our soldiers’ weapons are breaking?! For some reason, whenever a Myzahni soldier’s weapon made contact with the body of a soldier from Sutrena, its tip would break and go flying. The enemy soldiers were wearing some armor, but the tips of the swords and spears were metal. They would normally penetrate armor or pierce through its gaps. And yet they’re unharmed. The hardness of their armor and bodies was simply unthinkable. What’s going on?! Amid the rising cloud of dust, Rivage was overtaken by confusion.
No, it’s all right. With Robin’s magic, I can turn the tables at any moment. However, that was easier said than done. A large shadow suddenly fell upon Rivage, followed by a man’s voice.
“I’ve found him! Prince Rivage is right here! Based on my scouts’ report, there’s no doubt Prince Rivage himself is the one using that magic!”