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「Raphael! Catch!」
Ripple, manning the flygear, tossed something to Raphael. When Raphael caught it, he found it to be a dagger with a pale blue blade. It was his spare Artifact that was equipped on the flygear.
「Thank you, Lady Ripple!!」
From there, Raphael set his sight on the approaching army of Magic Stone Beasts outside the city. But on his way there, he spotted a humanoid Magic Stone Beast a short distance away from Miliera and the others. There were Knights surrounding the turned personnel, but they seemed to be struggling to restrain it.
「Let me help!」
He swooped down and charged forward at full speed. With his momentum, he delivered a kick that easily lifted the huge body of the Magic Stone Beast.
It crashed into a nearby building, half collapsing it before it stopped moving.
「THERE!」
Not to miss the opportunity, Raphael brandished his dagger Artifact.
A swirling blizzard of snowstorms rolled in, freezing the beast’s body. The Dragon Fang could not emit cold air, hence he was using the one Ripple gave.
The Special Grade Rune, like the one he possessed, allowed its owner not only to wield Hyrule Menaces but also all kinds of Artifact, be it higher grade ones or lower grade ones.
Resourcefulness. That was the essence of how a Holy Knight fought their battle.
「Ooh…!」
「That’s Sir Raphael for you!」
「Splendid!」
The Knights cheered at his skill.
「Now, be ready for the oncoming enemy!」
Raphael, with the crimson sword in his right hand and a blue dagger in his left, once again soared. Up in the sky, the flygear that Eris and Ripple were on came flying alongside him.
「Raphael! Everyone is making their movement!」
「Leave the back to them, we must hurry to the front! They’re basically a stone’s toss away!」
「Yes! Let’s hurry!」
Raphael and the Hyrule Menaces returned to the Holy Knight Order which was positioned above the outer perimeter of the eastern defensive wall. This was the front line against the approaching group of flying bird-shaped and humanoid Magic Stone Beasts! A position that would soon bring the enemy within their range of attacks.
「We’ve heard your order, sir! We allocated ice users on the rear, while the rest of us will be in the vanguard!」
The vice commander reported.
「Much appreciated! Have the vanguard maintain the group formation and advance! Maintaining the front line is our first priority, and aim for the bird-type Magic Stone Beasts! The rear guard, you freeze the humanoid Magic Stone Beasts the moment they fall to the ground! Leave the rest to our collaborators after that! Now, commence the fight!」
Raphael then led his troops to the front, and with him, the vanguard troops also began to advance, shouting their battle cries.
「Raphael! They’re spread much wider!」
Ripple made a concerning point. The vanguard troops were compacted in a group formation, thus making it much narrower in width than the incoming group of Magic Stone Beasts. If they marched on like this, the enemy’s far left and right flanks would go past them.
「You’re thinking of leaving them to our rearguards, right?」
In addition to the Holy Knight Order, there were many other forces gathered in the city of Arlman, including chivalric orders of various lords and a select team from the Knight Academy.
Counting the number of personnel alone, there were perhaps much more forces that didn’t belong to the Holy Knight Order in the city than there was personnel in the order.
However, given their experience in fighting Magic Stone Beasts and the personal strength of each personnel, the Holy Knight Order being the main force on the battlefield was not a mistake.
Rather than leaving the enemy to the other units, perhaps being prepared for a prolonged battle even if they bear some injuries would be a better idea. Not to mention, Miliera and the students were stationed in the back, too.
「No! We are going to split up and push the enemy from the left and right flanks! I judged that will minimize the overall attrition if we attack them from three different directions!」
「Uwah…! You’re such a slave driver now?!」
「W-, well, that, indeed, would reduce the exhaustion this unit will suffer…」
「Since we’re the one who’s got squeezed dry, though?!」
「Should, uh, should I change strategy?」
「No, this will do!」
Both Eris and Ripple wanted to avoid a scenario where Raphael had to weaponize either one of them. If so, then perhaps it was a good idea to get Raphael to move around as much as possible without letting him preserve stamina.
And, more importantly, it was something that Raphael would usually come up with. Which means he didn’t think that he had to end his life right at this moment. In a way, that was reassuring.
「Right… kay then, Eris and I are going left!」
「Yes! I will go right!」
Eris and Ripple abruptly changed directions of their flygear and parted ways with Raphael. On the other hand, Raphael accelerated at full speed and reached the farthest right of the enemy group.
「UOOOoooohhh!!!」
With his full-speed charge, he thrust the crimson blade of the Dragon Fang into the bird-type Magic Stone Beast.
The stabbed Magic Stone Beast shrieked, twisted itself, and dropped the humanoid Magic Stone Beast that it was gripping with its legs. That should pose no problem, however, as pure physical blows and impacts dealt no real damage to Magic Stone Beasts.
The existence of Artifact was indispensable for Magic Stone Beasts to be wounded. Therefore, even if they fell from a slightly high position, those humanoid Magic Stone Beasts should be fine.
The problem was the flying Magic Stone Beasts. These ones thought to be the underlings of Prisma, used to disappear like smoke the moment the blade of the Dragon Fang met them.
And yet, this one clearly didn’t… it screamed, sure, but its body didn’t dematerialize.
「No doubt about it! It’s getting stronger than before!」
It was easy to derive that the increased strength of the underlings meant that the main body (Prisma) was also getting much stronger.
「For now, though!」
The crimson blade, which was cleaving to the side, dissected the body of the Magic Stone Beast in two. Even if they didn’t vanish… slicing them open wasn’t so difficult.
「If I can cut you, then cut I will!」
Raphael held his Dragon Fang horizontally next to his body and began to charge toward the center of the long, horizontal group of enemies.
「UOOOOOHHHHH!!!!」
His body became a blur with a crimson ray of light trailing behind him as he was mowing down lots of bird-type beasts at once. As he did, a large number of humanoid figures crashed to the ground where the rearguard of the Holy Knight Order would unleash lumps of ice upon them, freezing them solid.
Steadily, the number of frozen humanoid Magic Stone Beasts was increasing.
As Raphael continued his assault from the far right edge towards the center, he saw a succession of humanoid Magic Stone Beasts falling to the ground from the opposite end.
「Lady Eris, Lady Ripple!」
He wouldn’t lose to them!
Raphael was gaining more and more speed, pushing in from the right.
On the opposite side, Eris and Ripple also continued to push from the left flank, forcing the group of Magic Stone Beasts that was spread horizontally before, to be pushed into the center.
When Raphael reached the center, the vanguard of the Holy Knight Order was already engaged heavily with the Magic Stone Beasts. Even though Raphael and the Hyrule Menaces were taking separate actions, they were able to pressure the Magic Stone Beasts effectively.
Their enemies were stronger than when they faced them at the border, nevertheless, they still handled the situation well. As the commander of the Order and the one in charge of them, Raphael found them most dependable.
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