The NTR Knight Commander has Decided to Desert

Chapter 9

"Wha... What is this? Wh... What the hell just happened? Why did they fall so easily?"

The native warriors were taken down in an instant right before their eyes.

The sight of those who were supposed to act as shields, blocking the enemy's attacks and leading the charge, collapsing so helplessly filled William with deep confusion—and the same went for the soldiers under his command.

"Mu... Muraka fell that easily?"

"What do we do? I-I mean, if we charge in now, aren't we just going to die for nothing?"

The sight of dependable warriors being killed in the blink of an eye began to severely damage the soldiers' morale.

Due to the nature of a large force, they were supposed to charge in swiftly and pierce through the enemy lines—but now they were frozen in place.

Watching this unfold, William pulled himself together as a commander and gave his orders with as much firmness as he could muster.

"Wh... What are you all doing?! Don't just stand there staring—keep advancing! And fire your guns and magic from this side too! No matter how many of them there are, they're still less than half our number!"

"Y-Yes, General!"

The unit commanders began rallying the troops again and resumed leading the charge under William's command.

The soldiers resumed their advance, though with noticeably less vigor than before.

Meanwhile, the mages and gunners stationed in the rear began loading their guns and spells.

And then—

"Fire!"

At William's order, the Imperial Army unleashed their offensive.

With acrid smoke, gun barrels flared, and vivid red flames and lightning burst forth from elaborate magic circles.

The bullets and spells, containing more firepower than what the rebels had just unleashed, rained down toward the enemy camp.

It was unfortunate they couldn't bring cannons due to the forest terrain, but this level of firepower was still enough.

Seeing the clear difference in basic firepower, William began to smile, even as a cold sweat formed on his brow.

'As I thought, they don't have many troops. I was surprised at first, but with this much firepower difference, they won't stand a chance...'

But then—

-Fwoosh!

"...Huh?"

The next moment, the spells flying toward the enemy suddenly vanished, like candles being snuffed out.

The streams of flame that lit the sky, the bolts of lightning pouring down—

All of it disappeared in an instant, as if it had never existed in the first place.

As for the bullets, it was unclear what happened to them, but given the rebels were hiding in the forest and held the high ground, they didn't seem to have done much damage.

On the other hand—

As if in response to the futilely blocked attack,

Sharp voices began ringing out again from the rebel side.

-"Fire!"

With the repeated command, bullets and spells came flying once more.

Their power seemed to be less than half of what the Imperial Army had just unleashed,

But unlike the Imperial attacks, which had been nullified by something, the rebel assault struck the advancing Imperial troops head-on.

The soldiers at the front collapsed to the ground.

As the body of one soldier rolled across the ground, those following behind tripped over him, causing further casualties.

On top of that, the defensive magic still didn't seem to be activating, and this situation was affecting both regular soldiers and warriors alike.

"Wh... What is this... What the hell is going on!!!!"

A completely incomprehensible, inexplicable situation.

Watching his soldiers suffer damage without being able to do anything, William let out a scream filled with confusion and disbelief.

*

"Gahaaack!"

"Urgh!"

William's men were collapsing one by one before his eyes.

Given the high-ground terrain, once the front line began to fall, they were swept away in waves—seeing this, Richard clicked his tongue internally.

'I had a sliver of hope, but of course... That idiot William charged in without knowing a thing about Captain Cromwell's abilities.'

William, unable to gather his wits as the frontline warriors were mercilessly slaughtered.

The man who had been so proud of becoming a general just moments ago now looked completely shell-shocked.

'Pathetic fool. This is why you'll never make it. Strutting around like a general, and now look at you—serves you right.'

Clicking his tongue at his old friend's foolishness,

Richard silently watched as the Imperial Army's spells continued to be nullified by Cromwell's hand.

'As always... Every time I see it, I'm reminded just how incredible it is... That power of the Captain's.'

The combat strength of a Holy Knight was generally considered to be on the weaker side.

While they did have offensive techniques using aura, their efficiency was notoriously poor.

Even so, Cromwell's personal combat prowess surpassed that of Richard, a warrior.

But honestly, Richard believed that if Cromwell's transcendent talent had been that of a mage or a warrior instead of a Holy Knight, his power would have been truly monstrous.

If he were a mage, a single spell could reduce an entire village to ashes.

If he were a warrior, a single swing of his sword could take dozens of lives and let him decimate entire armies alone.

And yet, despite that—

Richard also knew that Cromwell's status as a Holy Knight granted him access to another powerful ability.

That was...

A trait based on the divine energy used by Holy Knights.

Namely, basic healing abilities and magical defense.

The healing part was so well known it didn't even need mentioning.

What was far more terrifying was the magical defense—

Which was related to the fundamental nature of divine energy.

Mana is a force that bends the laws of the world artificially.

In contrast, the divine energy—or aura—of a Holy Knight is its polar opposite, a force that restores the natural order... and fundamentally nullifies mana.

In other words, if magic is a detailed drawing made with a pencil, aura is like an eraser that wipes it all away in an instant.

Because of this, Holy Knights had always been considered natural enemies of mages, and though their numbers were few, they were still regarded as valuable assets and actively recruited by the Imperial military.

And—

Among those Holy Knights, Cromwell, considered the strongest of them all,

Was known—through Richard's long experience—to possess a power that went even further.

Not merely defending against incoming spells,

But completely nullifying enemy magic within a certain radius.

While he used this ability, all enemy magic within a roughly 200-meter radius from his position was rendered ineffective.

Not just offensive spells—even defensive magic cast on oneself became unusable.

Though 200 meters wasn't a vast area on a large battlefield, in this narrow mountainous terrain, it was more than enough.

'Mana is the source of magic. Once that's cut off, mages and warriors alike are no different from ordinary soldiers in front of the Captain.'

And so, as he once again witnessed the absurdity of his former superior's ability, Richard felt a chill run down his spine.

Yet despite all this, Richard remained calm and composed, showing no signs of anxiety about the current situation.

In all the battles they had fought together, he had rarely seen Cromwell use this ability for an extended period.

It was a transcendent power, yes—but one that likely consumed a staggering amount of aura.

'Besides, judging by the firepower, they really don't have that many troops. At this rate, I'll just let William take the hits as a shield, and when the Captain's energy runs out... and once the other side's trap is revealed, that's when we strike.'

With that in mind, Richard calmly watched William's forces get pummeled for their recklessness, quietly waiting for the right moment.

*

Absolute Magic Seal.

A divine spell that blocks all enemy magic within a certain radius that could harm me—

It was one of the abilities that made Holy Knights known as the ultimate shield within Blue Revolution.

But this ability had several drawbacks, the biggest being its extreme consumption of aura.

With my original capabilities, even if I poured out all my divine energy to the point of being combat-ineffective, the limit would be 20 to 30 minutes at most.

Thanks to the 200% aura recovery buff, I could now hold out a bit longer, but even then, it wouldn't go beyond an hour.

And once I stopped using it, there was even a 24-hour cooldown—so this ability always required immense caution.

'Well, that's why very few people even know about this ability... but it looks like Richard over there already knew ahead of time.'

Richard, calmly watching William's forces get pummeled while keeping his own troops on standby.

That woman, showing the heartwarming camaraderie of traitors, was using William to gauge our strength while waiting for my ability to run out.

It was a sly move—but also a wise one.

And judging by how they were starting to spread their forces to form a surrounding formation, it seemed they planned to strike only after I stopped using my ability.

If that happened, with my already limited numbers, I'd be forced into quite a troublesome situation.

'That's only if you look at things from our side...'

William, still floundering in confusion, and Richard and the rest of the Imperial Army, waiting for my ability to run out while munching popcorn on the sidelines.

Altogether, their numbers totaled a staggering two thousand.

And it was clear that the rest of the Imperial Army, still stationed at the main base, had their attention focused entirely on this location as well.

With just 200 troops, we had tied down anywhere from 2,000 to 5,000 enemies.

And now,

What remained for me—

Was simply for her to carry out the plan as intended.

'I've drawn enough aggro for this, so she better live up to the name of a mid-boss.'

*

"Yaaawn... Seriously. A raid at this hour? Do the rebels not sleep or something?"

"Tell me about it... And with such a puny force too, they're making a fuss in the weirdest way."

Hans, a soldier of the Imperial Army, let out a deep yawn and voiced his annoyance, along with his comrade.

Stationed at the ammunition depot in the south, they were supposed to be asleep at this hour, but had been forced to guard the place under orders.

Most of the troops had already moved north where the enemy had appeared, leaving only a small contingent behind, including Hans.

As a result, they were standing watch half-heartedly, feeling a mix of boredom and irritation.

"If the enemy showed up in the north, shouldn't we just be sleeping? Why the hell did they wake us up to guard this place?"

"Right? That makes two all-nighters in a row for me. I swear, the rules those higher-ups make are the worst... Kuaghhhh!!!!!"

"!!!"

"Huh?"

The next moment,

Something cold flew in and burst his comrade's head open.

Hans and the others, struck by a wave of confusion, belatedly began scanning their surroundings.

And then, the scene that started to come into view—

It was...

"Wh-What the...?"

"R-Rebels...?"

In the darkness, hundreds of enemies emerged before their eyes.

And at the forefront of them,

A chilling cold,

And at the center of the countless ice masses forming within it, stood a beautiful woman staring this way...

A female general with blue eyes and blue hair began to come into view.

"Well then... shall we begin?"