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Chapter 303

303 – Battle Before the Village

“A-as expected! Dragon-god-sama’s power is overwhelming! So then…!”

“For that matter, were we really needed…? Weren’t we just in the way?”

The Lithovars’ are somewhat more cheerful than when we came here . But for me, it seems the main problem is what comes next .

I knew I’d be able to handle that battle by myself, but I didn’t have the slightest clue there’d be this many of them . Thinking about the worst case, I should hurry to return to the village now . With the village’s defence in mind, even if it’s by myself, I need to return as fast as I can .

It would be terrible if they were to be attacked by other units moving in parallel . I’d thought there’d be a few dozen at most, but guessing from the atmosphere earlier, those eighty weren’t even their main force .

But thinking about it normally, there’s no reason for them to split up their forces so much… I’d like to believe it’ll end with those eighty . Without knowing their objective, there’s no way of being sure . If they want revenge, then they might have split up their forces to ensure no one can get away… But thinking about the atmosphere of that unit earlier, that wasn’t the impression I got . It looked like their morale was only to the extent that they were here to claim land . As an upper estimate, the rest should be no more than one hundred . Once they know about me, they might raise a white flag and run away . As I am now, I’m pretty much untouchable by humans . Even if I were to fight that hero now, it would be my overwhelming victory .

From the direction of the village, I hear a shrill noise . It’s a sound I remember hearing before, the sound of a truga that the Lithovars use to signal . So they came over there too…

Hearing that sound, the delighted faces of the Lithovars turn pale .

“Guu…”

I groan to get their attention, then look towards the village .

“Dragon-god-sama…?”

“You’re returning to the village, right? We shall accompany you…”

I shake my head then break into a run towards the village .

“Dr-dragon-god-samaa!”

“Even if it’s just me, please take me with you! When I think I won’t be able to do anything in this crisis…!”

Sorry, but if I let you all on then I’d have to worry about speed, and if you’re targeted I don’t know if I’d be able to protect you… I don’t want to move in such a flashy way… If we were attacked by the survivors of that fight or their allies, I could end up being too late to save the village . So I’m prioritising the village now .

I kick off the ground and leap into the air, then stretch out my wings and fly straight towards the village . My leg catches and breaks a tall tree, so I raise my altitude a bit .

I see smoke rising from the direction of the village . In an instant, my mind goes pure white . But now’s not the time to stop . I consciously change my state from confusion to anger as I increase my flight speed .

Just in front of the village, a battle is unfolding between cavalry wearing the same flashy clothes and the Lithovars . The cavalry number about one hundred and fifty, while the Lithovars have eighty at most .

All over the battlefield, horses whose legs have been shot by the Lithovars are lying collapsed . There are traces of pitfall traps being dug . It looks like [Clay] was used to dig pits to reduce the mobility of the horses, and then arrows were shot into the gaps .

“They’re just a little cunning!”

I spot an enemy soldier cutting the spear of a Lithovar .

The soldier then restores his stance from the swing and aims for the Lithovar’s head . In that instant, three arrows pierce his exposed armpit . It looks like some Lithovars were hiding in the shadow of a tree and watching for an opening .

“Th, these…! Cowardly barbarians!”

Moaning, the man falls to his knees . The reverse end of the spear is thrust into his throat, finishing him off .

It looks like the Lithovars have been skilfully separating them and taking advantage of the terrain .

But the numbers overwhelmingly favour the enemies . It’s clear the battle will eventually turn bad .

I land on the battlefield and raise my head high to give a powerful roar . My roar resounds through the surroundings, and the sound of clanging weapons pauses for a second .

“Dragon-god-sama has come!”

“We have dragon-god-sama with us! We can fight to the end with our pride as Lithovars!”

The Lithovars’ morale is raised, and conversely the enemy cavalry are frustrated .

“It’s here, the Lithovar’s dragon-god!”

“It’s an unexpectedly difficult battle, and now that’s here too…”

“Its ability to fly around is a problem, focus on killing it! If you can’t, aim for its wings! Has anyone here experienced a dragon subjugation before?”

Earlier, it was eight soldiers to a unit and ten units to a battalion . With about a hundred and fifty here… There’s about two battalions here . What’s more, the smoke is rising from inside the village rather than here . So I can’t take too much time… Are there over three hundred in total?

I can’t afford to deal with all of them . The targets are the captains, the commander, and the unit under the commander’s direct command . Hannibal’s unit was clearly a source of morale for them . If I were to smash the commander’s unit, it should become a complete rout .

“C-captain Libras! Where are you going?!”

“W-withdraw, withdraw! My dad never told me it’d be this hard a battle! This isn’t what I was told! And what’s with that dragon, it’s way different than what I was told to expect!”

I look towards the source of the voice to see a plump young man yapping away .

“Monsters change their appearance all the time! Listen, Tolman-sama hates deserters most of all! If my captain flees, even though it’s only a formality, as your subordinate, my honour would… You can only talk about fleeing so freely because you don’t know Tolman-sama’s wrath!”

“I-I have nothing to do with that! My dad knows Tolman-koushaku[1] personally! He said all I had to do was stand around! This is wrong! This is way different from what I was told! I’m going back!”

…It doesn’t look like just because someone’s a captain, their morale will be high . It looks like this’ll be a pain, so should I just leave them alone?

[1] koushaku – honorific for a marquis, a noble one step down from duke/duchess .