Operation to Retake the Albul Kingdom’s Capital
At the same time a certain report came in... the allied forces of the South Margrave Army and the Albul Kingdom Army launched an operation to retake the capital located outside the Forest of Demons.
The capital and the Forest of Demons were extremely close together, making it an ideal battlefield for the Albul Kingdom, whose people specialized in tree magic. Easy to fight in, easy to escape from.
The reason such a small kingdom had managed to survive until now was because it used the Forest of Demons itself as a defensive wall.
And now, the Three-Nation Alliance had occupied that capital and fallen into disputes over which country would take leadership...
Amid the increasingly hostile atmosphere, negotiations completely broke down, and a definitive decision was reached…
Whoever captured Princess Flora would command the others.
Then an urgent report arrived.
A Tsutora Kingdom scout watching the Forest of Demons contacted his commanding officer. He had discovered the Albul Kingdom Army... and among them, he had spotted the Jade Princess with emerald-colored hair.
The Tsutora Kingdom Army, having obtained the information first, secretly began moving.
According to the report, Princess Flora was traveling through the Forest of Demons in a direction unrelated to the capital... toward the Tsutora Kingdom.
In order to capture her quickly, they disguised their supply corps as regular troops, then in the middle of the night the main Tsutora Kingdom Army withdrew from the capital.
A little later, the scouts of West Derobi also sent word that they had discovered the Jade Princess.
This time, she had apparently been found hiding deep within the Forest of Demons on the West Derobi side, taking a wide detour away from the capital.
Fortunately, the location was close to West Derobi and seemed unknown to the other nations.
So that their country alone could secure the most advantageous position after the fall of the Albul Kingdom... they decided to move independently.
West Derobi was a mountainous land, home to a cavalry culture skilled with horses.
Believing their swift horses could easily catch the Jade Princess, they reported to the other nations that they would be leaving the capital briefly for routine cavalry training.
Leaving behind infantry and supply troops, only the cavalry departed from the capital.
Before anyone realized it, only the armies of the various Jill City-State Confederation cities, the Tsutora Kingdom supply corps, and West Derobi infantry and logistics units remained in the capital.
Their forces had been reduced to barely one-third of their original strength.
Alongside those remaining troops were nobles and noble heirs who had tagged along seeking glory, as well as general-class commanders from each nation.
That morning began beneath thick morning mist... carrying an almost ominous atmosphere.
The city walls had originally been constructed through the Albul Kingdom’s tree magic, which allowed them to freely create and erase wooden structures.
This time, after the Albul Kingdom citizens evacuated, the Three-Nation Alliance had reinforced the existing walls.
A little tree magic from the Albul Kingdom alone would no longer be enough to destroy them quickly.
Then soldiers standing watch atop those walls spotted a massive Albul Kingdom force emerging from the Forest of Demons.
From the forest, still barely touched by the morning sun, a large army advanced.
Here, the Albul Kingdom Army consisted of nearly half the nation’s population, roughly two thousand people, excluding the elderly and children.
All at once, they poured mana into their tree magic to erase the wood used in the city walls.
And standing at their head was… A beautiful young girl with damp emerald-colored hair glistening in the morning mist, a tightly toned waist, and in complete contrast to that, large ripened fruits and long slender limbs.
While releasing overwhelming mana, she slowly walked out from the forest.
“So that’s the Jade Princess Flora all three nations are desperately fighting over. How beautiful... and how terrifying.”
The soldiers who witnessed the scene instinctively recoiled, feeling as though they had incurred the wrath of the forest spirits, the Dryads themselves.
As two thousand users of tree magic released enough mana to shake the earth...
The walls collapsed in an instant.
The reinforced sections crumbled apart and scattered everywhere.
And this time, it wasn’t just the walls...
The wooden castle and houses vanished as well, and the city once called the temporary capital transformed into a mountain of rubble in mere moments.
Many members of the Albul Kingdom Army collapsed on the spot after exhausting their mana.
Those still able to move split up and moved to guard the fallen.
---
“Alriiiight, you bastards. Little Flora made this chance for us! Charge all at once! And if anyone falls behind, not only are you losing dinner tonight, I’m taking away your booze too!”
With every obstacle gone… no, with debris now scattered everywhere making escape even harder, the Three-Nation Alliance Army found themselves unable to move properly.
The cavalry of the South Margrave Army came charging in atop battle horses. Mere rubble meant nothing before the power of battle horses’ legs.
The mounted forces surrounded the enemy army and demanded their surrender.
The Tsutora Kingdom supply corps consisted mostly of inexperienced recruits with few capable fighters… They surrendered almost immediately.
However, West Derobi still had one of its generals remaining alongside its infantry and supply corps, and despite lacking their famed cavalry, they prepared for a desperate last stand.
“Oh? Looks like there’s at least someone with some backbone over there. Guess I’ll go have a little fun.”
Just as Gray, head of the South Margrave family, started charging toward the enemy general, Gulliver, father of Almeria and Nemesia, stopped him.
“That’s why I keep telling you... the commander shouldn’t rush to the front himself. Times like this are when it’s my turn as captain of the Margrave Army. Right, old friend?”
Gulliver spoke cheerfully while swinging around a gigantic spear taller than even his nearly two-meter frame.
“Hey now, don’t steal my fun.”
“Obviously. Young Master told me to stop you if you started going wild again. So leave this one to me.”
“Nope. I’m doing it, so don’t interfere. That’s an order from your lor…”
“‘If you don’t listen to Uncle Gulliver, I’m telling Mother, you idiot old man.’ Young Master told me to say that.”
“Ah... ah... you’re gonna tell Alice? Come on now... that’s not even funny...”
“Good. Then behave yourself. Stay by Princess Flora’s side and protect her, alright? Now then... guess I’ll get started.”
Raising his great spear high, Gulliver called out to the West Derobi general.
“I am Gulliver von Zanger, captain of the South Margrave Army! Anyone who doesn’t wanna die, get outta my way! Anyone who stands before me is getting a hole punched through them by this spear!!”
Spinning the giant spear over his head, Gulliver roared…
And at the same time, he charged forward atop his battle horse.
What do you think about this chapter?
