Volume 5, Chapter 4 – Awakening of The Flame Emperor x Soaring of The Flame Princess, Part 6
Meanwhile, Liz and the others were having a hard time. Swords were clanging furiously, and sparks were twinkling furiously everywhere. Shouts of anger drowned out the screams, and shouts were released one after the other from the two struggling armies.
The blood plume from the crushed bodies obscured the view. The stench of death polluted the air, contaminating the lungs to the point where it was no longer possible to breathe.
Still, the two armies continued to fight without stopping. They chopped each other’s flesh and crushed each other’s bones with their battle-axes and then swung their swords to determine their next prey.
And then…
“Aura-dono! There’s a signal from the right wing to retreat!”
Tris, a muscular old soldier, shouted as he cut down the enemy soldiers. Although his wounds from the recent battle have not yet healed, his slash was so powerful that it did not make him seem injured in the slightest.
Now, under the onslaught of the 15,000 rebel troops, the 2,000 soldiers led by Liz were gradually losing their strength. It was only because Aura was calmly assessing the battle situation and issuing orders that they were able to continue to endure.
“No, not now. Send two hundred reinforcements to the right flank and hold them off.”
Aura sends a signal to the flag bearer, and in the blink of an eye, two hundred troops break away from the rear of the main force.
“Lord Tris. The frontline in the center is falling back, so push it up. If we don’t, Liz and the others will be isolated.”
“Leave it to me! Follow me, you people!”
With his spear in hand, he charges forward, the enemy rushing in. The troops led by him fought hard and kicked away the enemy soldiers who tried to block the center. Aura followed close behind, keeping her distance from the enemy. At that moment, a flag went up from the left wing, calling for reinforcements.
Aura’s beautiful eyebrows twisted, and a look of anguish spread across her face.
“Hmm… Detach a hundred from the main force and reinforce the left flank.”
“Aura-dono! If we divert any more soldiers from the center, the battle line will collapse.”
“…I know.”
As Tris said, the enemy has already penetrated deep into the main force. As expected, they are not able to devote any more strength to the war effort. But if the left wing is destroyed, the front line will collapse anyway. Then there is no way left but to send reinforcements.
“We have to leave the rest to Liz and the others.”
Aura looked ahead as if she were praying. It is a harsh place where only those with strong instincts can survive on this battlefield.
In the front line, where friends and foes mingle, even a moment’s slackness can kill them.
In such a place ― the red-haired girl was leaping her body as if she was dancing.
“Haaaaaa!”
The flames that erupted from the red sword enveloped the ground in red. Enemy soldiers clad in flaming armor are falling to the ground in vain, screaming with intense pain. The ones who couldn’t die in a single breath stumbled around on the ground, falling prey to the spears and dying.
“Stop Her Highness Celia Estrella! If we stop her, we win!”
“Get out of my way!”
A fierce blow was unleashed from Liz with a voice laced with anger.
Gaaahh!”
The enemy soldiers sink to the ground with their bodies split open and fresh blood sprinkled all over.
Without even taking a glance at it, Liz took a step forward and turned her back, dodging the spear that was thrust out from the side.
After narrowly avoiding the tip of the spear, which passed right under her nose, she twisted her body and swung the “Flame Emperor” with great force. The enemy soldier’s spear was cut in half as easily as if it were a fruit.
“――Wha, mm, bfuh!”
After piercing the body of a shocked enemy soldier, Liz slid the drawn blade horizontally and cut off the head of the second soldier. She cut off the third soldier’s arm with her return hand and smashed the fourth soldier’s face with her bare hand.
“Open the front! I won’t go easy on you!”
She threatened the enemy with her supreme energy. When the fearful enemy soldiers retreated, she boldly cut into them, not wanting to miss her opportunity. Even with her overwhelming military prowess, her red eyes were dominated by an emotion akin to frustration.
“I’m telling you, you’re in my way!”
She sprinted towards the enemy soldiers swarming in front of her, scattering flames as she flew into a rage. She was so determined that she would not let any of them go behind her.
Her attention, however, was elsewhere. Her eyes were always on the road ahead.
It wasn’t that she was underestimating them. But the enemy soldiers that filled her field of vision were where she wanted to be, and they were the cause of Liz’s frustration.
“I’m coming right now; just hold on!”
A strong blow.
Always one blow, always one kill.
A large number of corpses lay on the road that Liz ran down. No one can stop her momentum.
It is a world where if you don’t kill, you will be killed. Liz shows no hesitation in taking a life.
Everyone, including Liz, goes to the battlefield with that resolve. So, in order to protect those who need to be protected and save those who need to be saved, there is no room for indulgence.
“Skaaha!”
Liz called out the name of her isolated companion.
There was no reply. All that was left was the melody of death as the sound of blades clanging created a scream.
Originally, Liz and the others should have been in the Great Imperial Capital by now.
However, although things had been going well at the beginning of the war, the situation quickly turned upside down when some people broke into the battlefield. In order to restore the crumbling front line, Skaaha was the one who took the bait against the assailants.
Liz, biting her lower lip, hurried to her side as she finished off the enemy. Soon, the enemy soldiers who showed their backs began to appear sparsely. It was obvious that there was something ahead that would catch their attention.
“Clear the way!”
Liz kicked the ground forcefully. Of course, there was no way the enemy soldiers would let her through so easily.
“Surrender! Celia Est――!?”
“I’m tired of hearing that line.”
With the tip of her sword, she pierced the throat of the enemy soldier and killed him. She then slammed the “Flame Emperor” hilt into the helmet to crush the skull of the enemy who had come behind her. As the iron cracked with a loud noise, the enemy’s brain plasma scattered and dyed the earth red.
Liz attacked the stunned enemy soldiers, cutting through the deadly terrain through personal combat alone. With her blade flicking threateningly at the enemies around her, she struck the enemy soldiers who had lost their will to fight, knocking them into a stupor.
Then she looked forward again, but…
“!?”
She noticed a presence flying towards her, breaking through the waves of enemy soldiers.
“Kuh!?”
Liz hurriedly put out her hands to hold that person. But she couldn’t kill the momentum completely, and she rolled over and over on the ground with the flying object. With mud curling up and dust rising violently, Liz, who had been tossed about by the impact, stopped moving.
“…Ugh.”
Liz jumped up when she heard a moan.
In her arms, a woman with blue-green hair was in agony.
“Skaaha! Stay with me!”
When Liz tapped her cheek to confirm her consciousness, Skaaha opened her eyes vaguely.
“…Oh, it’s you, Liz-dono.”
“A-are you okay?”
There was no noticeable injury. However, there was a large amount of sweat on her forehead.
“Yeah… I’m sorry. I was saved. It’s just that I used too much power.”
Skaaha thanked her and got up on her feet. She then held the Ice Emperor at the ready and glared ahead. Liz was also caught up in this and looked over to see a group of creepy people standing there.
A vacant eye that doesn’t know where it’s looking. No matter how many times they were cut, their strong bodies instantly repaired the wounds. What appeared in front of Liz’s eyes were four huge, hard-looking monsters that looked like ogres.
“Liz-dono, you’d better be careful…”
With a note of caution, Liz realized what Skaaha was saying.
She had seen something like them once before, if not more. When she had first met Hiro, the heir to the Principality of Lichtine had been transformed during the war.
――”Fallen Angels.”
It is an abominable name for the fool who tried to possess the power of the spirits.
More than 1,000 years ago, a king of a certain country, out of curiosity, crushed spirit stones and created a special process called “Spirit Demon Pill.” It was a tragedy that led to a soldier drinking it out of curiosity.
The “Spirit Demon Pill” was not a drug with immediate effects. It was something that would transform over time, depending on the individual. The man who was given the drug began to suffer in the middle of the night when everyone else was asleep, and his appearance changed, and he lost his reason and became a monster.
The patrolmen who noticed the change became the first victims, and the monster, having tasted flesh and blood, ate the king next. Then, not satisfied with that, it attacked indiscriminately the old and young in the castle.
“That’s the Fallen Angels, huh…? I’ve heard rumors about them, but I’m surprised they really exist.”
Liz couldn’t respond to Skaaha’s words.
This was because more confusion than she was experiencing was hitting her.
“Why are the Fallen Angels… in such a place?”
She knew that the method of making the drug had been passed down quietly and was still in existence.
The blessings of the spirits are indeed attractive. However, it is not something that works too well if it is taken into the body. It is not a power that can be contained in a human vessel by nature. It will instantly make someone less of a person. Because of its characteristics and dangers, people called it “Spirit Demon Pill” or “Demon Drug.”
“It’s forbidden to produce it in the Grantz Empire… but who on earth would…”
It’s not that everyone has lost their reason, but there are a few who can withstand it — a person who gains physical abilities that far surpass those of humans while retaining reason.
This is what people call a transcendent person who has endured a devil.
They call them “Majin.”
An eerie roar emanated from the “Fallen One.” The air trembled as if to split the space. Liz and Skaaha instantly took up a fighting stance and prepared their respective weapons.
“Liz-dono, it would be better to think about it later.”
“It seems so.”
The enemy is not only the Fallen One. There are many enemy soldiers surrounding them. With the tip of their spears gleaming dully, they were aiming at Liz and Skaaha under their breath.
It was here that Liz noticed a strange feeling.
“Speaking of which, the last time I saw the Fallen One, it was attacking friend and foe alike…”
The four Fallen Ones in front of them were not attacking their allies but were glaring at Liz and Skaaha with a menacing growl.
“Come to think of it, these four don’t attack allies, but the one I just killed did attack an ally.”
So she used her power to eliminate it first. Skaaha laughed bitterly, saying that it caused her to fall into an inferior position, and she had to fly to Liz’s side.
At that moment――
“They’re coming! Avoid it!”
Skaaha shouted and jumped to the side. Liz raised the Flame Emperor above her head.
One of the “Fallen Ones” moved with unimaginable agility given its massive size, closing the distance to Liz. When the arm like a big tree swung down, a tremendous shock went through both arms and ran through my whole body.
“Haaaaaa!”
Liz pushed back the Fallen One with her natural blessing of “monstrous strength” and flashed it sideways.
She created more flames and shot them forward with great force. The blast rushed in all directions. Some of the enemy soldiers couldn’t hold on and were blown away. The flames scorched the air, and the dry heat spread around.
“You’re merciless…”
Taking in the tremendous heat, Skaaha muttered her thoughts as she kept her distance. But her expression tightened immediately.
The reason for this was because she saw four shadows moving in the sea of flames.
“…Good gracious, that’s a hell of a regeneration ability to survive in that. The only way to win, it seems, is to tear them to pieces, huh?”
Skaaha looked sideways at Liz for confirmation.
“Yeah, that’s right, but… you said you took one down earlier, didn’t you? How did you defeat it?”
“Well, I’ve always heard that the best way to kill a monster is to cut off its limbs. I froze it in place with a “special attack” and crushed it.
Skaaha shrugged her shoulders and pointed to the spot where she had just been fighting. There was a large and small chunk of ice buried in the mud at the place where she pointed.
“Then I guess I’ll just have to let the flames explode directly inside their bodies.”
Liz licked her tongue seductively and put all her strength into her hand, gripping the hilt of her sword.
“If they jump out of the flames, let’s take the fight to them at once. If we stay like this, we’ll never make it.”
“You’re right… This isn’t the only battle we’ve had.”
Liz looked around in all directions and saw that her allies were still fighting in the middle of the enemy soldiers.
They tried to keep the battle line alive by clashing their swords with each other and putting their spirit into it. They were fighting in small numbers against the majority to prevent Liz and the others from being surrounded.
But it was only a matter of time. There are not enough of them to deal with through emotion. They would be surrounded and annihilated soon enough.
“Let’s go!”
When she looked back at the wall of flames, the four Fallen Ones jumped out in a movement like setting a fire ablaze.
Liz kicked the ground and started running. Next to her, Skaaha also held up her spear and charged.
A fist was unleashed with vicious speed, and the wind pressure caused the red hair to dance.
As Liz avoided the attack by sliding across the ground, she heard the sound of the ground shattering behind her. She slowed down with her hands on the ground and swung the “Flame Emperor” to cut down the “Fallen One’s” leg without hesitation. However, the wound was instantly healed. But Liz didn’t bother and struck a powerful blow to cut it off completely.
The “Fallen One” screams in extreme pain, kneels on the ground, and stares at Liz.
Liz stared back at it with cold eyes, as if she were looking at dust.
“I can’t forgive the Fallen One just as much as Hiro can.”
With light footsteps, Liz leaps into the air. When she passed over the head of the Fallen One, who let out a sickening scream, she twisted her body and flashed the tip of her blade. The head flew off with a splash of blood. Next, he slashed at the Fallen One’s shoulder and then launched a barrage of slashes in all directions.
“It’s over.”
In the end, she sank the Flame Emperor’s blade into the body, and a flash of red light flooded out of the Fallen One and exploded. Even though her cheeks were covered with guts and a large amount of fresh blood poured onto the ground, Liz did not change her expression as she gazed at the Fallen One as it fell to the ground with a hole in its body.
“Next…?”
The other three, two of which Skaaha was holding back, were attacking their allies as they fought the enemy forces.
“What, don’t be afraid! Fight! This war ― Agh!”
“If I can be of any help to Her Highness Celia Estrella… Ggaah!”
One by one, the distraught allies sank to the ground, blood dripping from their bodies. Even so, they didn’t run away but stood up to it boldly.
“Your opponent is over here!”
Liz, who had started running, instantly closed the distance between her and the “Fallen One” and slashing her sword diagonally from her shoulder. As she exhaled irregular breathing noises, her eyes were glazed over with a creepy glare.
“Get away from my people!”
Liz punches the giant, who is many times larger than she is. The Fallen One rolled across the ground with as much force as a large rock tumbling down a hill.
“Liz-dono! There’s one in your direction!”
Whether it rushed to the danger of its companions or instincts detected a good enemy, it is not certain, but the Fallen One ran up to her and unleashed a fist into her face.
“Kuh!”
She succeeded in avoiding it, but her feet were caught in the mud, and she lost her stance. Then the Fallen One that she just blew away attacked her from behind.
“Tsk!”
Liz deliberately slipped her foot and slammed her back into the ground. She used her hands to jump up and down as she survived the storm of attacks from the Fallen Ones.
“You’re too slow!”
She quickly launched an attack. She counterattacked, dodging the storm of attacks.
But what could be a fatal blow to a normal person is not even a scratch to the Fallen One. She clicked her tongue and tried to create a mass of flames to adjust her stance.
“Liz-dono! Behind you!”
“Eh――?”
She tried to turn around in response to Skaaha’s words, but she couldn’t do it.
For a brief moment ― she didn’t know what had happened. One of the Fallen Ones was taken care of by Skaaha, while the other two were right in front of her.
“Kah!”
A violent shock transmitted from the back forced all the breath out of her lungs. The next thing she knew, her eardrums were filled with the sound of cracking and creaking bones all over her body.
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