<h4>Volume 9, Chapter 220: To Hold One’s Hand Is To Be Ready</h4>


    The glittery purple light drew a line on the battlefield. That line broke the enemy soldiers’ necks with an unpleasant noise, leaving their eyes white.


    At the same time, the sound of the right arm creaking apart echoed. I felt that a few of my muscles were torn, perhaps because of the forceful movements.


    Still, without breathing, I raised the de one more time. No matter how much I swung the de up, I didn’t have any trouble in cutting the enemy down. The enemy soldiers rushed to this ce with barbaric voices, as if I was dealing with a surging wave.


    I wanted to give myself a break. Yet, it was a reward too extravagant for me.


    The purple line ran again in the air while sighing for a moment. The iron helmet, which received the de, got broken from the top, and a roaring sound resonated.


    My body was bizarrely in good shape. My arm wielding the sword followed a delicate trajectory that didn’t seem to belong to me, but it was powerful. A sh that would not have been possible in the past was carved in front of me every time I shook my arm.


    What kind of thing was this? The uplift strikes made heart powerful. And whether the thing in front of me was really what I had achieved so far, it was enough for me to feel skepticism.


    What should I say? It seemed that my fingers did something I couldn’t do until now. There was certainly such a feeling. My heart felt strong again and a buzz rang on my chest.


    However, the enemy’s camp was still far away.


    I looked at the horizon while tightening the reins of the horse. I still couldn’t see the enemy’s camp, just a flock of soldiers. It seemed that the enemy soldiers were looking for a gap in the assault while holding the spears.


    They were waiting for the gap after swinging the sword vigorously, and for the gap where the horse stopped the hooves slightly after repeating the assault. It was a must for any human being. In that gap, the enemy soldiers were holding shields and spears, and watching this situation as they waited to grab a piece of my meat.


    It was not a very good situation.


    No matter how good I was, if I kept moving, I would eventually be out of breath. Moreover, I already felt my internal organsining of pain as if they were tightened. Even though I was riding a horse, running on the battlefield took my physical and mental strength away. It was impossible to keep repeating the assault until the enemy soldiers could no longer bear it.


    Naturally, I was not a human being like Caria who had a whole body made of iron. She was unquestionably exceptional.


    Therefore, originally, it should not be protruding in a small unit so that assistance from the surroundings could be obtained.


    「I don’t think she has fallen, Fret. 」


    I said while looking at the ck hair swaying at the edge of my field of vision. I heard a smiling voice from behind my back. Apparently, she was safe. I sigh of relief leaked from my lips.


    「Of course, I wonder why I thought she was such a troublesome woman. 」


    Her words showed dissatisfaction, but the voice did not. Fret probably joked now. That was the signal.


    I held my shoulders and reached out to Fret. Her fingertips were undeniably tinged with magical colors. The condensed lump of magical power did not undte, but just sat in Fret’s hands. There was a moment of silence before it swelled.


    I heard the gasping sound of the enemy soldiers around me. I wondered if the girl’s thin fingertips seemed like a threat to them.


    Fret’s quiet voice engulfed the battlefield.


    「…The canopy is here…Copse. 」


    Her fingertips were shaken at the same time as her words.


    In a single moment, the world twisted. An impossible storm ran through the battlefield as if it suddenly appeared there. The storm bounced off the trees, swallowed people, and knocked birds down to the ground. It invoked a clear natural violence.


    However, the violence was strange. It did not show any sign of stopping and swallowed only the enemy soldiers as they were. The humans who should have been wearing heavy equipments were thrown away like paper and thrown into the air. They would die for sure if they fell to the ground so violently. Still, if that storm hit the enemy soldiers well, it would end up being profitable for us.


    Was it a real threat capable of changing the war, just like battlefield magic? I didn’t really understand how it worked. I remembered hearing a little while ago that it twisted the boundaries of the world and connected it to somewhere else.


    To be honest, I thought it was such a stupid thing, but when I saw it up close, I had to believe in it.


    By all means, it was different from the magic that originally provided a little help.


    「It would be easier if you could knock down all the enemies with this. 」


    I said, with a wry smile, at the sight of that excess. I struggled with my sword and dropped several heads of the enemy soldiers, but when I saw this magic, my actions seemed meaningless.


    I wondered if she heard that words. Fret replied, putting her body on my back.


    「No way, that’s impossible. I don’t have that kind of imitation, magical power, or physical strength. So…Hmm, let me rest a little.」


    「Yeah, please take a break to your heart’s content. 」


    Deeper, her weight fell on my back. Fret’s thin arms were wrapped around my abdomen. Her voice made it seem as if she were short of breath.


    It seemed that she wasted a lot of physical strength by exercising magic twice. It couldn’t be helped, but she went beyond the realm of magic, such as battlefield-scale magic. Even in the past, I didn’t remember hearing anything other than the magic powers Fret could use as a Sorceress. Yet, this power was beyond those of sorcerers.


    Considering the limit of her physical strength, I thought I could only rely on Fret just for a couple more times. I couldn’t let her be hurt in vain.


    Then, at best, I shall move the piece forward while she was absent.


    In the face of Fret’s magic, the enemy soldiers’ eyes were no longer emitting hostility. Even if only a few troops were damaged, the sight of them being thrown into the air without any help from theirrades and being mmed into the ground was imprinted on their eyes.


    I took a big breath. I held the treasure sword in the heavens and let the sun shine on it.


    「The enemy has copsed; the opportunity is here and now. Don’t forget the goal of this battle…Shoot!」


    My loud voice echoed on the battlefield. The troops of my unit struck like an avnche and jumped at the enemy soldiers with barbaric voices in response to my words.


    It was not a pattern that I followed. In fact, I never uttered words that drove people to fight fiercely. My words were never meant to lead other people.


    Still. If this was necessary, and if anyone had to swing the sword for, I’d take control of myself. I shall not me anyone nor ridicule myself even if I were not qualified to handle that weight.


    After all, I must have been enthusiastic about taking that control…More than anything else.


    I led the troops and cut deep into the Philos City Corps. They were no longer just wooden figures with shields and spears. In the face of Fret’s magic, the will to fight had been greatly decreased. There were only a few soldiers who came at me with a fighting spirit.


    Then, the one who had defeated their will must not back away from the battlefield now. This was my only chance, since most of the soldiers from the Philos City Corps wanted to run away in fear.


    I shook my eyes and looked around. Where were you? Where was that person? I desperately moved my field of vision amid the turmoil of the battlefield. Now the enemy soldiers were confused. However, a few people died. It was probably even a minor damage, and it would be very difficult to repeat the assault in the same way as this one again.


    My eyes, which were moving repeatedly, opened when they saw a certain point.


    …There it was. I finally saw the helmet with that bird’s tail feathers on it.


    The area around that person wearing the helmet was full of soldiers unlike the others on the battle. That was the evidence that themander’s voice had arrived.


    At the same time as I recognized that person, I made my horse run. The galloping speed of the horse with Fret on my back was not that fast. Still, it was enough to get close to that person who had stopped its horse to bring the confused soldiers together.


    I leaned out of the horse as if I were jumping into the field. The glitter of my purple de reflected the sunlight and shook the air.