Beauty and Muscle

While it might be convenient to call it a "battle" for the sake of the Khenis Empire's prestige and the pride of the elven warriors, the reality was almost a "massacre”.

Elves had arrogance.

"If we can use a bow, we can win."

"If we can use magic, we can win."

They believed that they could win by fighting in their own areas of expertise.

However, that was a mistake.

Like a slime stretching to devour its prey, the forest advanced towards the Imperial Blue Army's camp, but the elves were simply outmatched. The Imperial archers, protected by stationary shields and defensive magic, shot deadly arrows with precision that the elven archers couldn't match. When it came to magic, not only was the quality comparable, but the Imperial forces also outnumbered the elves.

The forest’s and elves' onslaught had come to a halt.

A makeshift forest is fragile when motionless.

While the army was stationary, cannons were transported through storage magic, and cannons repositioned further behind the Blue Army fired one after another, gradually depleting the forest.

Unfortunately, the warrior captain leading the assault (who had just taken office two weeks ago due to the death of the previous captain) was caught in this bombardment and died, causing the unit to panic.

When the warrior captain died, there were no established rules among the elves on how to take command and continue the battle. The position of a tribe's warrior is determined through religious rituals, and adapting flexibly on a chaotic battlefield was not particularly considered.

"Retreat! Scatter the forest and use it as a defensive wall while withdrawing!"

Within the sparse wall of trees, a female elf raised her voice.

She had vibrant orange eyes that were as dazzling as glossy nuts, revealing a strong will. Clad in a form-fitting leather armor that accentuated her slender, elven tall figure, her short-cut, fresh green hair peeked out from under a leather hat-like helmet.

Her name was Liellamires.

She was a warrior of the tribe known as the “White Serpent Crawling on the Rock Wall" and held the rank of squad leader, leading ten warriors.

While it is a given that males generally have superior physical abilities, there is no gender difference in the manifestation of the talent to train the body beyond the limits of physical strength—a skill known as "talent of mastery”.

This applies across adventurers, soldiers, and even more so for elven warriors.

Although the unit was in a state of confusion after losing its commander, there were some who tried to take action within each squad.

However, even that lacked a unified direction, with differing opinions on whether to fight or regroup.

Liellamires, having sensed the danger approaching the high priestess through intercepted communications, and judging that further combat was impossible, attempted to retreat.

To temporarily fend off the Blue Army's attacks, Liellamires and her subordinates unleashed "Seed Arrows”, but they simply stuck into the ground without taking root.

—They didn't take root!?

The cause of the problem was clear.

The magic that rapidly grew the trees and expanded the forest had ceased.

—High Priestess Salesaya...!

Liellamires, as a member of the tribe, respected High Priestess Salesaya as a religious leader.

Losing her, following the death of the warrior captain, was an unimaginable situation.

The cannons of the Blue Army roared, spewing fire, shaking the ground.

"Captain, another barrage…!"

"Everyone, defend!... ≪Weave Nest≫!"

“”””≪Weave Nest≫!"”””

Liellamires' magic was followed by her subordinates.

Vines sprouted from the ground, weaving together and enveloping Liellamires and her group like an overturned bird's nest.

Immediately afterward, there was a shock as if their heads were being vigorously shaken.

Exploding shells or magical projectiles. The tightly woven vines completely protected them from the blast, but Liellamires heard the sound of trees breaking and falling along the ground.

"Release the magic! Let's retreat!"

Surviving was merely a stroke of luck. They weren't hit directly by the bombardment.

Now that magical support was lost, the trees grown around them and the plants manipulated by nature magic had only ordinary strength. Staying here was impossible.

As they unraveled the vine defense, Liellamires realized the situation was about two times worse than she had anticipated.

The makeshift forest had been blown away, and what looked like corpses were scattered around.

And then, as Liellamires and her group lost the protective wall of trees, the Blue Army's cavalry charged towards them without hesitation.

Horses were the majority, but leading the charge was a massive, cow-like beast clad in armor. With a size likely double that of a horse, it charged menacingly.

It was a terrifying war beast, naturally robust and further strengthened by the armor, deflecting arrows and magic almost effortlessly. Due to its large size, it lacked agility, so if they could build a defensive wall or lure it into the forest, defeating it would be easy. However, on the open plain, it became a formidable enemy.

...Liellamires and her group were no longer in the forest.

"Kuh... Shoot! Take it down!"

Knowing it was futile, Liellamires readied her bow.

It was no longer a battle but a mop-up operation.

All hope seemed lost. Liellamires and her group were about to face death.

The raging armored bull, deflecting arrows with its armor and the cavalry's shields, rapidly approached.

At that moment, a giant figure appeared, cutting through Liellamires' group from the rear.

"Dooora!!"

A heavily armored cavalryman, along with a heavily armored war beast, was sent flying.

The armor crumpled, and the monster cow toppled over.

"What...!?"

Liellamires couldn't believe her eyes.

The weapon that had knocked down the monster cow was an absurdly large and rough hammer, resembling a siege weapon called a "Siege Maul”, but with a long handle attached. And the one wielding it was...

"Monster...!?"

"Reinforcements."

"Eng..."

Uttering incomprehensible words was a giant over three meters tall.

A big man with rough, greenish skin, wearing crude metal armor and boasting muscular strength.

He was an ogre — a monster.

With the front cavalry defeated, a sense of panic spread through the Blue Army's cavalry.

However, the war beasts and horses couldn't stop abruptly. They continued charging, only to be knocked down one after another.

Ogres emerging from the rear added to the chaos.

They wielded clubs, golden mauls, logs, sweeping away everything in their path.

The ogre with the Siege Maul, the first to appear, turned around. With a slightly misshapen face, he looked down at Liellamires with small, round black eyes.

Liellamires instinctively took a step back.

"Weak, you are, coming to fight, not good."

"What!"

It wasn't mockery or insult.

The ogre stated the fact that Liellamires was "weak" and seemed to view her as a target to protect as a warrior.

"Do you mean I'm weak? I..."

Attempting to say something, Liellamires couldn't find the words. Ultimately, Liellamires and the tribe's warriors couldn't do anything.

Seemingly losing interest in Liellamires, the ogre, while swinging his hammer, leaped into the battlefield.

The battle took a strange turn.

Ogres were forcefully holding back the cavalry charge, engaging in a brawl.

Come to think of it, not only were there no cannons, but arrows and magic weren't flying either. The Blue Army's camp was also in turmoil.

Soldiers in dazzling equipment appeared out of nowhere, launching a surprise attack.

Furthermore, a wyvern with only bones, skin, and silver scales rained down an evil breath from the sky, while a monstrous giant dog spewed fire, trampling the Blue Army soldiers.

"... What in the world is happening?"

Liellamires had no choice but to stand there dumbfounded.

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