Operation to Recapture the Capital: Final Phase
“Gulliver, here I come—”
Gulliver kicked the belly of his Battle Horse and charged forward. The brave ones leaped out in front of him, but… that was by no means a wise decision.
Some were swept aside by his spear.
Some fell prey to the spear itself.
Some were trampled beneath the Battle Horse.
Faced with that reality, the infantry of West Derobi Country began fleeing one after another.
At this point, only a handful of men still remained protecting their general from the Battle Horse that had already closed the distance.
But then, Gulliver suddenly dismounted from his Battle Horse…
And slowly walked toward the generals.
“I’ll ask just in case, but you’re not surrendering, right? You’re a man entrusted with an army too. Even knowing the outcome, you can’t back down… but you don’t want your soldiers dying meaningless deaths either, do you? Still, if you’re going to be defeated anyway, you’d rather go out in a blaze of glory here, wouldn’t you? So, how about it? Let’s settle this with a duel. If you win, my men’ll withdraw. If I win, I guarantee the safety of your soldiers. Pretty generous terms, yeah…?”
“… Understood. I accept! You men, fall back. And give this pendant to my daughter. Tell her… that I love her… Understood? Then go.”
Entrusting his pride, honor, and love for his daughter to the soldiers who had guarded him to the very end, the enemy general roared.
“I am Junkel, Left General of West Derobi Country! Engrave my name upon your very soul!”
“I see. So you’ve got a daughter too, huh… Being a father to a daughter’s rough, ain’t it? Well, we’ve both got our positions to uphold.
I am Gulliver von Zanger, captain of the South Margrave Army. Left General Junkel, no hard feelings. Now then… let’s have an honorable duel!”
The morning mist had completely cleared, and the sun had climbed high enough to cast long shadows behind the two men… The surroundings fell silent beneath the strange tension as they watched for each other’s opening.
By pure coincidence, both wielded spears.
And the first to move was Left General Junkel. Fast, precise thrusts. Relentless attacks that barely left room to breathe.
He continuously targeted Gulliver’s vital points, unleashing thrust after thrust.
They weren’t attacks powered by arm strength alone, either. He used the flex of his entire body, transferring every ounce of force into the spear itself. Even under that fierce barrage, Gulliver remained entirely on the defensive… yet there was still composure on his face.
The spear rushing toward him…
He knocked it aside.
He deflected it away.
He dodged.
He redirected it.
With spear technique superior in every regard, he completely overwhelmed Junkel.
“Any last words?”
“Haa… haa… Please look after the soldiers. And if you ever meet my family, tell them this. ‘I fought proudly. It was a battle I could be satisfied with.’…”
“Understood. Junkel… your name is now engraved upon my soul. Farewell!”
With a single thrust of the spear, West Derobi Country’s Left General Junkel collapsed to the ground.
After that, the remaining soldiers who had resisted were taken prisoner one after another.
---
While Gulliver was utterly crushing the forces of West Derobi Country… the Jill City-State Confederation army, which had possessed the largest number of soldiers among the Three-Nation Alliance, had already descended into chaos the moment the defensive walls disappeared.
Then came the cavalry charge of the South Margrave Army riding Battle Horses.
Their units were split apart, and roughly sixty percent of the city-states surrendered almost immediately after the battle began…
The remaining forces barely escaped with their lives through the ruins of the royal capital and regrouped on the outskirts of the old capital.
Normally, they say an army is effectively destroyed after taking thirty percent casualties, and completely annihilated at fifty percent. Yet despite already suffering sixty percent losses… the City-State Confederation had a unique political structure.
Because of that, there were miraculously several city-states that had emerged nearly unscathed, and they still intended to continue fighting.
And there, right before the Forest of Demons, knelt the Albul Kingdom army after expending enormous amounts of mana… along with the spoils captured this time.
---
Princess Flora noticed the Jill City-State army approaching them and hurriedly created several walls using tree magic as she attempted to flee.
Even after their losses, the Jill City-State army still retained forty percent of its forces. The commander believed capturing a single woman would be no challenge and issued the order:
“Capture her with the entire army!”
Princess Flora and her companions used tree magic to conceal themselves… turning it into numerous walls that sprang up before the Jill City-State army and obstructed their advance.
Splitting up their soldiers to bypass the obstructing walls from multiple directions, they steadily closed the distance to Princess Flora.
Just as they finally drew near her, a cool, bell-like voice utterly unsuited for a battlefield rang out…
“Everyone, thank you for your hard work. Today’s battle… shall conclude here.”
A beautiful girl with emerald-colored hair performed a graceful curtsy in the middle of the battlefield.
The soldiers who had been trying to capture her became captivated by the strange mixture within her appearance, the innocence of a refined young maiden blended together with the allure of a mature woman.
As they stood there mesmerized, suddenly…
The walls to the left and right of the Jill City-State army vanished through tree magic, revealing the South Margrave Army mounted atop Battle Horses.
Then the wall behind the Jill City-State army disappeared as well, exposing the Albul Kingdom army waiting there.
Princess Flora hadn’t been creating those walls merely to escape. She had been using them to hide allied troops from enemy sight while guiding the enemy into a position where they could be completely surrounded…
This was the operation Princess Flora herself had proposed.
“Everyone, the time has finally come to move toward retaking the capital. And the strategy will be… a strategy using…………”
The omitted portion had been: [Using myself as bait].
That’s right, the greatest objective of the Three-Nation Alliance was Princess Flora herself… and she had used herself as the bait.
First, they lured away the main forces of Tsutora Kingdom and West Derobi Country using decoys made to resemble Princess Flora. To draw out the cavalry specifically, the fake Floras were intentionally positioned farther away.
After reducing the number of troops stationed in the capital, Princess Flora herself appeared before the enemy soldiers during the decisive battle for the capital… and toyed with them completely. As expected of Princess Flora, feared as the “Scheming Princess.”
The deceived soldiers of the Jill City-State army ultimately surrendered after being hit by cavalry charges from both flanks and tree magic attacks from the rear.
Thus, the recapture of Albul Kingdom’s capital was accomplished with minimal casualties. And once again, they obtained enormous quantities of supplies… food, equipment, and more, along with a massive number of prisoners.
As soon as their mana recovered, the two thousand soldiers of Albul Kingdom began constructing simple defensive walls connected all the way to the Forest of Demons before the forces of Tsutora Kingdom and West Derobi Country, who had completely fallen for the decoy trap and been absent while attempting to steal the glory for themselves, could return.
Naturally, they also planted trees that monsters would not approach.
And so, when both nations finally returned to the capital, what awaited them was the reality that the Three-Nation Alliance had already been defeated… along with a hail of arrows and sudden cavalry charges from the South Margrave Army bursting out of the Forest of Demons.
Unable to do anything, both armies retreated back to their respective countries…
Thus, Operation: Recapture the Albul Kingdom Capital ended in victory for the South Territory–Albul Kingdom Allied Forces.
The one who had commanded the entire operation was Princess Flora, still young enough to be called a mere girl.
The gesture of brushing back her emerald hair and her dignified posture showed not only beauty, but undeniable strength.
The allied soldiers were witnessing the birth of a new commander…
Read Chapters 50-98 in Advance on Patreon
What do you think about this chapter?
