“Men! Your reginarch has arrived!” His roar was like thunder. One of the most important qualities for a commander to have was a voice that carried, and Babel’s was clear even amid the tumult of the battlefield—just like Yuuto before him.
“Oh, King Babel, you’re here!”
“His Majesty has arrived!”
The soldiers began to rejoice. The people may not have been too fond of him, but he was well-loved by his own troops. That was because he had strength, both as an individual and as a commander. The troops knew that if they trusted in him, they would make it back home safely to their families. Babel possessed the charisma to make them believe that under him, they’d be invincible.
“If your shields can no longer serve their purpose, discard them! Once the enemy gets in range, trade those spears for swords and fight back!” Hearing Babel’s words, the soldiers’ faces lit up with hope, and they did as they were told. It didn’t change the fact that they were currently at a disadvantage, but it would buy them a bit of time, at least.
“All troops with their shields still intact, form a defensive line! That throwing spear trick won’t work on us twice!” His voice boomed with confidence and vigor. Moreover, it was the right call. The only ones who’d had their shields compromised were the troops who’d been on the frontmost line. The soldiers behind them were unaffected—physically, at least. The unrest the front line had suffered had certainly spread to the lines behind them as well. However, thinking about it rationally, the enemy only had swords of normal length, and they still had their long spears, so in terms of reach, they still had the upper hand.
“Now, warriors of Steel, it’s do or die! Muster up all your courage and fighting spirit, and live to fight another day!”
The troops shouted back their approval—their spirits reignited—and proceeded little by little to claw their way up from their disadvantageous position until they finally began to push back against Nozomu’s army once more.
“I never would’ve imagined they could recover from that... He’s really on a whole different level.”
Nozomu bit his lip in vexation. Babel was strong—that was no new discovery for him. He’d known that Babel had been placed under Jörgen’s supervision and had been hand-selected by Yuuto himself as the one to succeed him, after all, so how could he not be? Even if he hadn’t inherited Yuuto’s ideals, it didn’t change the fact that he possessed monstrous strength.
“Yeah, I thought that would be enough, honestly.” Arness also wore a bitter expression. “If even Arness is showing a sour face, the situation must be dire,” Nozomu thought.
“But it doesn’t change the fact that this is our chance. Let’s end this,” Nozomu stated confidently.
“Good call,” Arness replied. “I daresay there’s no better opportunity than right now. I’ll send word to Sigurd and Haugspori.”
“Hell yeah! Sound the war horn!” Nozomu yelled excitedly.
Moments later, the booming cry of their war horn resounded throughout the battlefield.
“All right! Finally, my time to shine!” In the forest a ways away from Nozomu’s location, Sigurd gave a vicious, yet elated, grin. Perhaps as a result of his mother Fagrahvél’s rune, he’d been strangely fond of calls to arms ever since he was a child. “Sigurd Unit, time to move! Let’s kick the enemy to the curb in one fell swoop!” With that shout, Sigurd’s unit charged forward. They were already aware of the enemy’s phalanx formation—as well as its weakness. If they attacked from the side, the formation would crumble. Sigurd was grateful from the bottom of his heart that his older brother had had enough faith in him to give him such a critical role. After all, stuff like this was all he was good for.
“Well, not like it’ll be easy, though.” A daring grin crossed Sigurd’s face as the enemy came into view. It was the cavalry unit that had given Nozomu’s main force so much grief in their first battle. Sigurd wasn’t worried in the slightest though. He had a counterplan—specifically, something they had already prepared beforehand would now be repurposed.
Sigurd let loose a bellowing roar from deep within his chest. He sensed several distant enemy presences flinch.
It was Yuuto’s ironclad rule that they weren’t allowed to use anything that wasn’t from this era. However, that meant that everything already from this era was fair game. Elephants, for instance, were easily obtainable within the Orient. There was nothing saying they couldn’t use them.
“Ha ha ha! Kick it all to the curb! Trample them! Mow them down!” Sigurd howled maniacally. Of course, they couldn’t procure very many—only five. But the tremendous presence the gigantic animals brought to the table was incredibly effective nonetheless. The horses coming toward them immediately balked, refusing to move any further despite the urging of their riders. Some even threw their riders off and escaped in the opposite direction.
“Hell yeah! Now, my comrades, let us head for the enemy’s main unit and... Whoa?!” The elephants charged forward—in the wrong direction—before Sigurd could finish. It seemed they still needed some more training, which made sense considering he’d had to rush it, but the elephants refused to do his bidding. It was just as he’d suspected—this wouldn’t be as easy as it seemed. Despite that, the enemy’s cavalry unit had been consumed by panic by the sheer presence of the mighty beasts. This was the best opportunity he’d get. He had to act now.
“Guess there’s nothing for it! Looks like it’s up to Sigurd Unit to cut ’em all down!” Unsheathing his sword, Sigurd rushed into the fray. His ability to adapt to any and all setbacks and instantly make appropriate decisions was his greatest strength as a commander.
The instinct he’d inherited from his father and mother told him that this was the decisive moment between defeat and victory. This was where he was supposed to end it. He didn’t have to think about it—he just knew. His body and heart became fired up, the flames more intense than they’d ever been in his life. Power surged from his core and spread to every inch of his body.
“Outta the way, outta the way, outta the way!” He charged forward like a rocket, cutting down every enemy along his path until his target came into view. His target’s appearance hadn’t changed at all from when Sigurd was a child, so he recognized him immediately.
“Babel the Usurper! Your head is mine!” Sigurd yelled.
“Who—? Dammit, Fagrahvél’s kid?!” Apparently, Babel had also identified Sigurd in an instant. Sigurd’s chest swelled with anticipation. He’d always wanted to go all-out against this man, ever since he was young, and now he would have his chance. With a beastly roar, Sigurd brought down his sword on top of Babel.
Ting! The high-pitched metallic clash of two swords rang out.
“Raaaghhh!” Sigurd swung his sword furiously—like a wild beast slashing with its claws.
“Urgh!” His attacks were ferocious enough to immediately put Babel on the defensive. Considering how levelheaded Sigurd’s father and mother, Yuuto and Fagrahvél, typically were, Babel hadn’t expected Sigurd to have such a violent streak.
“No, actually, it makes sense.” Babel revised his thinking. Yuuto could certainly be relentless and unforgiving when he needed to be, and Fagrahvél even possessed a rune that brought out the animalistic nature in people. When he considered that, it was actually rather likely that this aggressiveness did come from his parents.
“Haaah!”
“Ungh!”
Sigurd delivered a heavy blow that left Babel’s hands numb from the impact. The boy was only supposed to be around fifteen or sixteen, and his body clearly still had room to grow, so where was all that power coming from?