“Genocide Swarms, break through the enemy’s formation. I’ll send you further instructions in a moment.”
“By your will, Your Majesty.”
“Toxic Swarms, I want you to shoot suppressing fire from the foot of the mountain. Keep the enemy pinned on the mountain road. I also want a separate force of Genocide Swarms to go around the mountains and create a diversion. In general, I want the enemy absolutely convinced we want to use that road.”
“Understood, Your Majesty,” the Toxic Swarms replied.
We needed to make sure the enemy didn’t understand our true intentions and stayed where they were.
“All right, get to it. Commence the operation.”
Would it go well? I wasn’t going to pray to that annoying God of Light, so I instead directed my prayers to Oinari, the Japanese god of luck and good harvests.
♱
The Popedom of Frantz was divided into northern and southern regions by the Indigo Mountains. At present, the sole road leading through the mountains was completely closed off by Frantz’s military. Wooden fences were set along the road, and rocks had been rolled down the cliffs to block the way. At this point, the army had completely abandoned the refugees, citizens, and remaining soldiers who were still in the north.
“Anything out of the ordinary?” asked an officer. He was inspecting one of the companies handling the blockade.
“Everything’s in order, Captain!” a young soldier chirped back.
“I hear your betrothed lives in Saania, soldier.”
“Yes, and it’s a real load off my shoulders. If she lived in the north, I’d have put my life on the line to go save her.” The young man smiled.
“I’d bet you’re itching to see her again, eh?”
“Frankly, sir, I really am. I wish this damnable war would just end already...”
The soldier’s beloved was a waitress in a restaurant. They’d met when he was on an outing with the rest of his unit. It hadn’t taken long for the well-mannered girl to open her heart to the soldier, and they had quickly become an item.
They’d been exchanging letters ever since the war broke out, and returning to her arms was the soldier’s greatest mission. Naturally, he also wanted to keep her safe from the ruthless army of monsters.
“Oh! Enemy sighted, Captain!”
From a distance, he could see their foes advancing down the road.
“Prepare to intercept the enemy!” the captain shouted. “Man the ballistas! Don’t let a single one of those bugs through!”
“Yes, sir!”
The soldiers assumed their positions, preparing to stop the approaching monsters.
“Looks like they’re sending in the heavy-duty melee units and the bugs with long-ranged attacks... Those long-rangers are problematic,” said one of the soldiers.
As he’d pointed out, Genocide and Toxic Swarms were marching on the army’s position.
“The enemy is beginning their attack!”
“Get ready! Watch out for those stingers; you’ll die from a direct hit!”
Frantz’s soldiers already knew full well how potent the Toxic Swarms’ stingers were. Anyone hit by them melted into mush, dying in the most agonizing and undignified way imaginable. The crossbowmen were covered by other soldiers holding up steel shields, guarding them from the stingers.
The next moment, the Toxic Swarms fired their stingers, and the shower of death began.
“Gaaah!”
A few unfortunate soldiers were struck by the stingers, writhing in agony as they melted. Despite those losses, Frantz’s soldiers refused to fall back.
“Ballistas and crossbows, ready to fire!”
To the soldiers, this was the last line of defense. If the enemy were to pass through here, they would be free to rampage through the plains beyond this mountain range. At that point, Frantz would have no chance of victory.
Thus, they would have to make this battle a decisive one. With that resolve in their hearts, the soldiers fired their weapons at the Genocide and Toxic Swarms. As one Swarm after another collapsed, the ferocity of their attacks seemed to wane. The Toxic Swarms kept firing their stingers off one at a time, but they were gradually forced to flee because of the ballistas.
“They’re retreating!”
“How do you like that, you vermin?!”
The soldiers cheered as they watched the Swarms fall back. Now the Popedom was safe. The enemy units, unable to force their way through the Indigo Mountains, would be pushed back to the north. And one day, the Popedom would retake the north and even liberate the lands of the Dukedom.
“We did it... Karen, darling, I’ll be coming for you on my next leave!” cried the soldier romantically entwined with the Saania waitress.
But this flickering flame of hope would soon die out, leaving nothing but the darkness of despair.
“Wait! Enemy units sighted!” shouted a soldier, his voice quivering.
“Well, yeah, we just drove them back,” said another, stifling a laugh.
“No, from behind! They’re attacking us from the rear!”
Indeed, a force of 500 Genocide Swarms had materialized behind their rear guard and was closing in on the blockade.
“From behind?! How?! Where did they come from?!” The captain began to panic.
His bafflement was to be expected. The Swarms had climbed over the peaks of the Indigo Mountains on foot. They were capable of traversing obstructions and obstacles unfazed, so of course they could climb over steep mountains to launch an unexpected counterattack on their enemies.
While the Swarm might have struggled with crossing bodies of water, mountains didn’t hinder them in the least. The Arachnea’s queen had ordered this group of Genocide Swarms to cut through the mountains in order to get around the blockade and ambush the enemy from behind.
The plan proved extremely successful, as the soldiers were so focused on the idea of a frontal assault that they hadn’t realized the enemy had gone around them until it was too late.
“Turn the ballistas to the back! We need infantry to guard the rear, so—”
The captain’s words were cut off as a massive arrow pierced through his torso.
“I did it! All the ballista operators are taken care of, Your Majesty!”
“Good job, Lysa,” replied the Arachnea’s queen.
Needless to say, the enormous arrow had been shot by Lysa.
“Sérignan, pressure them from the front, too. It’s time for a pincer attack.”
“By your will, Your Majesty,” said the knight with a bow.
Lysa and Sérignan joined the forces attacking the blockade from the front.
“Even more enemies incoming! The monsters are attacking us from the front again!”
“Archers! Archers! Fire your crossbows—aack!”
Sérignan’s slash sent a soldier’s head flying. The rest of his body fell to the ground, spurting blood. She then cut down another soldier, and another, quickly building up a mountain of corpses.