Not 13 km.

René jumped onto the roof of a nearby building and flew across the rooftops to the west side to go around the castle wall.

She then swung her red blade and cast a spell.

"...≪Calamity Flash≫”

A reddish-black flash of light burst from René's sword and extended in a straight line toward the royal castle.

One of the towers of the castle collapsed like a sand pile kicked down by a child. With a huge hole in the side of the tower, it collapsed, falling down and laying on its side in the courtyard, raising a cloud of dust.

If the building had not been magically defended, it would have been a royal castle.

Since there was no emotional reaction in the castle, it seemed that Hilbert had taken up a post at the gate.

At this point, Hilbert's decision to abandon the castle and come all the way to the gate tower was correct.

It was impossible to provide a magical defense for the entire castle due to cost issues. If so, it would be safer inside the castle wall.

Normally, the walls and the knights' magicians would have protected the castle from magical attacks, but such a half-baked defense would not work against René.

Well, since Hilbert has already been evacuated, René's actions in destroying the castle in this way will not be a direct blow.

--Even so, the castle will be destroyed and left alone...

Sensing the hostile intent, René jumped off the roof, flying directly to the side.

--No, he didn't!

Immediately after.

A "vertical slash" passed the place where René was.

The stone house was cut in half like a cabbage cut with a knife, and the cobblestone pavement was cut in a straight line.

At the origin was a knight in ... white and silver armor. In his hand had a blue-silver blade that glowed... with its own light, but was now stained by the cursed blood. Lawrence pulled out the magic sword Terra Ayur.

The current blow was his skill art of Tendan, which was described as Lawrence's signature.

The effect was purely to extend the attack, as though he were wielding a sword with a blade 2,30 meters in length.

Stabbing allowed for a medium-range attack with little chance of missing a target. If it slashed, it could reap dozens of enemies.

It wasn't unusual for Lawrence to have a technique that expanded his attacks, but when he unleashed it with his skill art, it became an unparalleled swordsmanship that crushed any enemy.

If she climbed to high places or jumped, she would be the target.

René walked on the ground toward Lawrence.

Laurence was waiting for her with his Terra Ayur, while the knights behind him formed a "turtle formation", as usual.

The trick of the "turtle formation" was already understood. The problem was the shields that the knights were carrying.

The Type 29 Hillman magic shield.

It was made of domestically produced Adamantite and given to the elite of the Order of Knights of the Royal Court. The shields themselves were not resistant to magic attacks, but rather were magic items that had the power to deploy a force field slightly forward that blocked magic. The protective range extended further than that of the shield itself.

The principle behind these shields was to fuse the force fields by holding them closely together to form a wider and stiffer magic defense field.

It would be troublesome to smash through it with magic. However, a half-hearted physical attack would be magically defended by the enclosed magician.

The current René may be able to penetrate it head-on in Lich form..., but if she failed, it would be a painful exhaustion. In the first place, René had no intention of breaking through with such brute force.

"... Monster. I let you escape once, but I will not let you escape twice. Receive ... your retribution for defiling and harming Ciel-Terra. And I will return to you my humiliation and the curse of my sword."

The sound of his voice was a frozen miasma.

Hatred, rage, and disdain that seemed to reach not to the depths of the earth, but through the earth to the other side of the planet. It surged toward René.

René suppressed a laugh.

She had "defiled and harmed Ciel-Teira"? If so, would he say that the people killed in the coup d'état were not part of Ciel-Terra ...? But if René said that, in an attempt at irony, Lawrence would affirm it without hesitation. On the contrary, Lawrence considered René an invader.

--What could you possibly understand if I told you ...?

René's heart, which had stopped beating, burned with a cold, black flame of hatred.

Anger that made all the blood in her body flow in reverse.

René was a little worried that she might have been shaken as an avenger. But it seemed her fears were unfounded. Now that she was in front of Lawrence, all she could think about was killing him in the most gruesome way possible.

“Do you think you can win? The number of cowardly knights with their shields up like a turtle seems to have dwindled considerably since the last time. It's a miserable and pitiful manpower shortage that you even have to bring out the federal dummy golems that you hate so much. Is it the high turnover rate due to the Commander's lack of popularity? Or are they all on vacation in the south?"

"You..."

Lawrence's anger grew stronger.

The Turtle Formation was smaller compared to the battle of one month ago. The reason for this was that the castle was manned by defenders, and many more knights were killed in battle ... in other words, by René.

René knew that, and that's why Laurence was so furious.

"In exchange, I've brought plenty of useful company items with me."

René snapped her fingers, and suddenly there was a disjointed and eerie sound of footsteps, like rain falling.

The undead that filled the walls of the castle were coming closer.

Undead soldiers who were not participating in the castle siege surrounded René and were filling the whole area. While keeping a distance to avoid being swept away by Lawrence's skill art, they quickly got into position to assist her.

Fear and tension rose up from the "Turtle Formation". As expected, they felt pressure at this sight.

Lawrence was not shaken by this, but ...

"Well, they might have been your friends a while ago."

If she agitated him, he would get even madder.

"Compared to back then, things have changed. The circumstances have changed since then, and they are in my favor. But no matter what has changed, my words to you will never change."

René pointed the red blade at Lawrence.

"... I won't forgive."

"Curse you...!!"

＊ ＊ ＊

The creaking of gears. The sound of indirect scraping.

That was the battle cry of the golems.

The ground, which had been covered with cobblestones, pulsated like the belly of a beast. The golems that were about to step out almost tumbled over themselves, and then they stopped.

The Liches were manipulating the terrain with their earth-based magic, blocking them from moving as they wished.

The golems' strong arms did not stop just because their footwork was disturbed.

Each swing of its huge grayish-silver arms blasted several of the undead into motionless corpses.

Between the two rampaging golems, arrows coated with holy water flew from the castle walls and pierced the undead.

But the undead were numerous, and they were fearless.

Undead who have managed to evade the giant arms attached themselves to the legs and climbed up their bodies. They were aiming at the drive unit and the head, where the sensors were concentrated.

"Shoot them down!"

The command from the gate tower came, and arrows flew toward the undead attached to the golems. One by one, the purified undead fell.

“It's still tough with miscellaneous soldiers..."

The ghouls in command around them were reporting the status of the battle to Alastair at every turn.

Alastair sighed over the call mark.

"We have no choice..., will you give it a try?"

"I'll do my best."

One ghoul moved in response to Alastair's command.

He had pale skin and was dressed in a kimono. His hair tied high at the back of his head.

His species name was not officially recognized by the Adventurers' Guild, but if he were to be given a race name as a monster, it would be "Ghoul Samurai" or "Ghoul Kengo". ...His name before his death was Udanosuke.

Udanosuke jumped into the middle of the battle and ran with a low profile.

The arm of the "Phoenix" approached, sweeping across the ground. The soldiers around the ghoul were blown away.

"Armor, thick and hard..."

Udanosuke leapt and dodged the arm like he had no mass, then ducked under "Phoenix's" feet and slid between his legs.

“Geishaaaaaaaaaa!!”

The katana swung sharply like a bolt of lightning.

The "Phoenix's" right leg was severed at the knee.

The Mithril coffin-like leg parts rolled off, and the off-balance "Phoenix" barely stood on his knees.

"What in the world!?"

A loud and surprised voice resounded in front of the castle gate.

"Hmmm. The joints are fragile. Just like the nesting dolls in front of the wind."

Against the backdrop of the golem's hideous appearance, Udanosuke sheathed his katana.

At first glance, it seemed to be a meaningless gesture, but after a decisive blow, it had become ingrained in Udanosuke's body that he would thoroughly demoralize his opponent.

The target of the attack was the opponent's heart. This was also part of his fighting technique as a samurai. It was called Zanshin.

Udanosuke, a katana wielder, could cut through even Mithril with his skillful technique.

His undead body was now more physically capable, and his power had reached even greater heights. ...In exchange for a heart of justice that valued the honor of the Samurai.

What should one do if a powerful person appeared who could take down a golem single-handedly?

It only made sense to use infantrymen and small golems with specialized equipment to support the golem in order to interfere with him, and then to finish him off with the main golem. The Golem Corps of the Gireshtal Federation was organized with that in mind.

However, Ciel-Terra had neither the strength nor the know-how to do so.

In the first place, the Knights did not expect anyone other than René to be able to fight against a golem.

The reason why René was saving Udanosuke was because it was too good a human ghoul material to lose in the battle, but it was also acting as a hidden weapon for this reason.

"I'll tell you what, you did it. Well done."

"It's too early for praise. There are three legs left to cut. ...Or maybe two, one would be enough. Vulnerable!"

The undead soldiers were all clinging to the "Phoenix," which was now unable to move properly.

The "Naghfar" was too late to pluck them out or shoot them down with covering fire. The soldiers climbed up to the head and thrust their swords into it, destroying the sensors on the head. They also shoved their weapons into the joints of the limbs, making them unable to move and destroying their mechanisms.

Gradually, the "Phoenix" began to move erratically and eventually stopped moving altogether.

"'Naghfar' in front of the castle gate! We'll fall prey to them if you leave!"

The drawbridge had already been rolled up and the gate was blocked.

The "Naghfar" had to back away to a position where it was against the gate.

It was a position where "Naghfar" could be protected by attacks from the gate tower and the side guard tower, but "Naghfar" could not go to attack the undead soldiers who were clinging to the walls.

If protruding, they would die in vain; if defending at hand, they would not work. It was a dilemma. In the end, the only way out was to make him stand in front of the castle gate and act as a gatekeeper.

" The rest is up to us. All that's left is to continue the attack and stall the defense. It would be great if we could damage the defending personnel."

"Understood. If I get a chance, I'll dismantle that golem."

"Think of your own safety, too. You'll be needed by the Princess from now on, and you'll be in her service."

"I am ready."

The ghoul who was ordered to teach swordsmanship looked toward the west side of the castle wall.

He wished for the victory of the great one who would be his student from now on.

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