Magic-Sealing Doesn’t Guarantee Victory (1)
Crap, crap, crap. The Empire’s state religion is the Holy Faith. And now its motherland, the Holy Empire, has sent an army.
Letting them approach the Imperial Capital would be a disaster. The citizens would definitely turn against us. In street fighting, our smaller numbers would be at a huge disadvantage, and the terrain would favor them. It’d be nothing but trouble.
At worst, I might have to flood the capital with tear gas. Still… this could also be a chance.
If we wipe them out before the people even know, we’re fine. To raise your sword against the Holy Empire is the same as raising it against the Goddess—that’s how believers in the central continent see it. Just like when Nobunaga went on a rampage and the Ikko sect holed up in fear, we should be able to make the same thing happen here. Better finish this quickly.
And the fact that they sent an army without warning—yeah, this isn’t about mediating peace talks. If it were, they’d send envoys first. You can’t just march in with an army and claim you came to negotiate. The battle would start before any words were spoken.
“Numbers are… roughly three thousand, but… something’s off.”
“Too few, huh? Our comrade must be doing a good job keeping them busy.”
I’m sure my comrade—the beastkin—has stirred up chaos in the Holy Empire. I can tell. He’s awakened. For him, the Holy Empire is nothing but a target of revenge now. I don’t know the details, but his eyes said as much.
The Holy Faith is human-supremacist. And for a beastkin to cause chaos in the very heart of its stronghold… things must be insane over there. And a man like him wouldn’t be captured so easily.
So it makes sense that their forces here are small.
The Avia Holy Empire doesn’t have vast lands. Not tiny, but not large either. And their regular army isn’t particularly big. What makes them terrifying is that they control the religion of nearly every nation on the continent. Under the name of God, they run rampant. Of course, most believers probably don’t realize just how bad it is.
In truth, their real army is their believers. When the Holy Empire moves, the Holy Faith’s followers in the target nation may well rise against their own country. That includes nobles and even soldiers. Once the Holy Empire starts moving, even the enemy’s citizens can become their army. That’s what makes them terrifying. Which means they don’t need many regular soldiers. In fact, the fewer they have, the richer their coffers stay.
And the fact that they’ve dispatched some of their scarce regulars to hunt down my comrade just proves he’s still alive and kicking.
Do your best, comrade. Someday, all humans on this continent will become beastmen. The golden age is coming, and until then, we mustn’t stop. I’ll gather more comrades in Arland too. Fluff is justice!
… Whoa, calm down, me. A shining future will come even if I sleep. Right now, I need to deal with the threat in front of me.
“With the garrisons holding the capital, I can move about ten thousand golems from the Legion… Victory’s ours. I’ll go take a bath.”
“Alice, stop raising flags!”
Takuto grabbed my shoulder as I started heading back to the Treasury, only for Alicia to slap his hand away.
Alicia, why are you interfering?
“Touch Her Highness again and I’ll cut you down.”
“Well, I doubt you’d actually win, but fine. Anyway, back to the point—three thousand? They’re underestimating us. The Soldier Golems alone are enough to trample them. I don’t even need to lift a finger.”
Alicia made a sour face. She probably thinks even Takuto, strong as he is by Earth standards, would struggle against them. After all, Shishidou-style swordsmanship doesn’t include the word ‘mercy.’
“You’d best not underestimate them. They’re far nastier than you think.”
Takuto’s casual words were so vile that the rest of us froze into blank faces.
“They sacrificed innocent people of other races?!”
Hmm. With the Spirit King’s knowledge, I know just how hard it is to summon from another world. The biggest issue is the enormous magic power required. Even I would be drained dry casting it once. So how did the Holy Empire, which doesn’t even have a mana reactor, pay that cost?
They used sorcery. Substituted the missing magic power with human souls as fuel. A forbidden art, but theoretically possible. Possible, but it means the sacrificed souls are obliterated—denied even reincarnation.
Oh, I see. So this is a declaration of war against me, the lover of fluff. Fluff is meant to be cherished, not destroyed for something so vile. Absolutely unforgivable.
Decision made. The Pope’s getting sentenced to planetary exile—straight into the sun. He’s got a body that won’t die easily, so I’ll just burn him until it’s gone.
“Golems, advance.”
At my order, the Legion of Golems under my clones’ command began to march forward.
The formations were set up like line infantry.
The enemy cavalry led the charge—about fifteen hundred strong. A trampling charge. Against our AK-knockoffs, a standard battle line would suffice. And only the Empire fields heavy cavalry worth fearing. The Holy Empire’s cavalry are light lancers. High mobility, sure, but their horses are clearly inferior to the Empire’s. The Empire’s horses are like destriers, built for heavy cavalry. The Holy Empire’s are more like Kiso ponies from Japan. Not bad, but not terrifying either.
As they entered range and we prepared to open fire, I saw something strange.
The charging cavalry shifted into wedge formation, but at the tip of the wedge—two men. I cast a farsight spell to see them.
“Japanese…?”
“Otherworlders?! This is bad, Alice—pull the army back!”
“Ta, Takuto?”
“I know who they are! I thought they were being held back to counter the Magic Kingdom, but if it’s who I think—!”
Before Takuto could finish, I felt it. The golems stopped moving. The clones commanding them faded, vanishing in confusion.
“What? The golems won’t move!”
“This is bad. Everyone, take immovable formation!”
The cavalry simply bypassed the immobilized golems and charged straight at us.
“Protect Her Highness!”
“Alice, we need to retreat. They’re our worst possible matchup.”
Takuto grabbed my hand. Yeah, I admit, the golems shutting down was a shock. I had no idea how they did it. The clones disappearing didn’t matter much—they’re disposable anyway.
But a cavalry charge? Yeah, retreating was best. I began casting teleport—only for the spell to fizzle out.
“I can’t use magic!”
“Both of them showed up together? Damn it, we’re inside their range!”
Kazuhito clenched his fists and stepped forward.
At the same time, the cavalry crashed into the Arland knights who’d lined up in front of me… and the riders went flying.
“… Heh.”
“Arland’s specialty, the Immovable Formation. I worried it might fail against Imperial cavalry, but it works fine on the Holy Empire.”
The principle’s simple: infantry stand firm and take the cavalry’s charge head-on. Horses can’t stop instantly. It’s like slamming into a wall. The riders don’t survive unscathed. And if the front line holds, the rear cavalry pile up in a chain-reaction crash.
“Behold! Our Immovable Formation!”
The knights roared with pride.
“Takuto, do you know why Arland has no cavalry?”
“Uh, because you don’t have enough horses?”
“Nope. Because we’re broke. We used to, but when the budget was cut, cavalry was the first to go. And the king at the time? A total musclehead.”
These days, Arland has no cavalry regiments. Officers may ride, sure, but no cavalry units as such.
When the generals asked that king how they were supposed to counter enemy cavalry, the king answered: “With your own bodies.”
And the generals, also muscleheads, went: “I see!” They ordered their men to block cavalry charges with their bodies. And the soldiers, also muscleheads, obeyed. Over time, the tactic was refined—into the Immovable Formation we see today.
As for dealing with cavalry mobility? “If the infantry runs as fast as the cavalry, there’s no problem.” Thus, Arland’s soldiers are all speedy runners. They can even chase down heavy cavalry.
That’s partly why the Empire doubled down on heavy cavalry—to field something the Immovable Formation couldn’t stop. Stubborn bastards.
Against the Empire, the tactic works about 60% of the time. Against lighter cavalry like these, the success rate is much higher.
“What a musclehead country!”
“Whoa, don’t go praising us all of a sudden, you’ll make us blush!”
The knights, still holding horses back with their bare hands, suddenly looked embarrassed.
“Kazuhito, in Arland, that’s actually a compliment.”
“How is that a compliment?!”
“Because it means even their brains are trained. With muscle.”
… But now what do we do? I tried casting again, but the spell was instantly canceled.
“Damn it, that hurt… you bastards, you’ll pay!”
The two otherworlders stood up, drinking potions.
“And look at that, just as the rumors said—she’s a runt.”
“C’mon, let’s haul her off to the Holy Empire. You lot, off your horses!”
At their words, the surviving Holy cavalry dismounted. In a melee, cavalry’s hard to use. Still weaker than Imperial cavalry though.
But they’d bought enough time for the enemy infantry—fifteen hundred strong—to arrive. Thirty times our number. Not good. The Immovable Formation hadn’t killed that many either. Lightly armored, most survived their falls. And people here are tougher than Earth’s. Many blocked the impact with battle aura. These were seasoned troops.
Of course, melee broke out.
“Alice, retreat! I can’t cover you all!”
Yeah, without golems, this fight would get messy. The Arland knights were tough, but not invincible. If this dragged on, we’d lose men. I prepared to fall back—only to realize my armor felt heavy.
“Oh, that’s quite the armor. But see, around me it doesn’t work. My skill is Magic Item Nullification.”
The brown-haired man sneered.
Damn it. Technically, magical lifeforms like my armor count as magic items. Its weight-reduction enchantment was steadily weakening. Without it, the armor weighs over a hundred kilos. Even with body enhancement, I could barely move.
“Ugh.”
I tried casting a Fireball—uncast.
“Too bad. My skill’s Magic Nullification.”
The blond man cackled. Though his hair was really just dyed—roots still black.
Wait a second.
“So… magic and magic items are both—”
““Totally useless! Hahaha!””
I froze. Well… not completely useless. Internal-only spells like Body Enhancement still worked. But most of my arsenal—nullified. And my armor’s lightweight enchantment was gone.
Which meant I was basically worthless now. My heart cracked.
“… I’m weaker than plankton.”
“Wha—Your Highness?! Why are you giving up here?!”
“Right now, I’m beneath a microbe. Forget me and retreat. I can’t move.”
I pulled a carpet and cushion from my treasury, laid them out, and flopped down. At the same moment, the armor’s enchantments failed entirely. Movement impossible.
“Your Highness!”
“Seriously, leave me. I’ll manage somehow if they take me alive. Maybe stir up some chaos in the Holy Empire later.”
But the smug grins on those two men’s faces turned to shock. Something was blocking out the light.
I looked up.
“Mr. Coote…?”
Mr. Coote loomed above—massive, dragon-sized. Right. I still had Mr. Coote. Invincible.
(Forgive me, Master… I destroyed a treasured magic item.)
He looked sadly at the shattered remains of his glasses. Guess they broke when he transformed.
“Mr. Coote, you were that big?”
(This is my true form. I only hid it, fearing you’d be scared.)
As if I’d be scared! That just means more fluff to snuggle. Sure, he radiated the dignity of a king now, but hey, he’d evolved, right?
The Shadow Wolves emerged too, returning to their true forms. From all directions, monsters charged in with earth-shaking roars. No cute dog forms now—they all looked terrifying, snarling with fury.
(I will kill you all. Any who harm my master shall be annihilated.)
“At last, my time to shine!”
Helios too had returned to his dragon form. Holy soldiers collapsed in droves, fainting from fear. To Arland, Helios is a cowardly glutton. But to anyone else, dragons are terror incarnate. And Mr. Coote’s aura surpassed even that.
Wait… did these guys just seal away my power which caused to unleash the seals on my pets instead? Monsters don’t care about spell nullification. Their raw physical power is overwhelming.
(Die.)
Mr. Coote’s merciless strike came crashing down on the two men.
What do you think about this chapter?
