I hate you, hero. Don't you think you've ruined our ambush?
...... bran ......!

　The moment the rearmost Noir shouted the name of the white-haired woman, the Golden Fang knights all held their weapons at the same time.

　Blanc, the white wizard.
　A former member of the brave party and Noir's twin sister.

　A traitor who, after being captured by the Demon King's army, voluntarily went down to the Demon King's military ranks and turned against the kingdom.

　That fact has naturally been conveyed to the Golden Fang Knights.

　It was a natural response for them to take an on-the-spot stance.

''Well, I'm scared, I'm scared. You don't have time to reminisce with your sister. If you're too shy, you'll be killed.

　Bran said deliberately, rolling up his sleeve to expose his left arm.

　Something that looked like a plant root stretched across his thin, white arm.

　Something similar to a curse mark, or perhaps an unknown curse mark.
　Either way, there was no doubt that it was a magical pattern.

'Let it be!'

　The two knights leapt with their weapons in hand, and Melissa released more fireball magic.

　But before they could reach Bran, multiple three-dimensional magic circles unfolded at the end of his outstretched left arm.

　The deformed soldiers that jumped out of the magic circle prevented the knight's sword fire and Melissa's magic.

''It's not fair if we don't have the prototype magic crests and prototype modified soldiers that His Majesty gave us ...... this much. You guys are much more numerous than I am.

　Bran's magic circle disappeared after spitting out a few more soldiers.

　The head count was only half that side's, but the fact that they dared to stop at this number indicates that they are confident that they can make up the difference in numbers with quality.

　But such things are only trivial.
　There is a more serious and grave problem unfolding before our eyes.

'White Wolf's ...... those guys wouldn't be ......'
...... Yeah. It's like a mass-produced version of the Falcon.

　The soldier Bran had called out was wearing a mask reminiscent of the Falcon of old, with the wings and tail of a dragon on his body.

''Come on, gentlemen. The best power His Majesty has given you, show it to the brave men and women.

　As if those words were a signal, the converted soldiers attacked all at once.

　With the exception of me and the captured Falcon, everyone immediately took up combat positions and intercepted the soldiers with their respective attack methods.

　The group battle began unexpectedly.
　The trend of the battle is in our favor, but considering that we are still in the lead despite our superiority in numbers, it's not a situation to be optimistic about.

Oraa!

　Garnett slashes at the soldier who rushed in between the knights without pause.

　He hits the soldier who still hasn't fallen down with a powerful spinning kick and flips him out of the melee.

''Tch ......!　What a tuff!

　The moment the soldier landed, the mask that had been damaged by the slash came off and fell to the floor.

　When Garnett saw his exposed true face, his face instantly looked like he had bitten down on a bitter worm.

'These guys are ...... humans or ......!

　Although their skin had been eroded by scales and their eyes had been replaced with the reptilian eyeballs of a dragon, there was no doubt that their archetype was as human as the Falcon.

　Their expressions showed no sign of human reasoning.
　It was as if their rationality had been painted over with beastliness, just like Julia who had engaged them not long ago, and they had been turned into hounds of the Demon King's army.

　The Golden Fang's Captain Hazel also seemed to have pushed down her anger and uttered her agreement.

''Ah. Moreover, he's a Knight of the Golden Fang who was lost in the battle. I believed that his body ended up in an undetected form, but ...... I didn't expect him to be humiliated like this.

　The fists are clenched so tightly that you can almost hear the sound of a grill and give a powerful command to your subordinate knights.

''Strike down quickly!　Rest in peace, comrades!
Whoa!

　The morale of the Golden Fang's troops surged, and the battle situation, which had been close to even, quickly tilted to an advantage.

　Finally, Sakura cut down the first converted soldier.

''The first one!　Next!

　Just after switching targets to push off with the momentum - the soldier who had just been knocked down wavered up.

''Sakura!　Behind you!
......

　The sword he swung as he turned around and received a surprise blow.

　Don't tell me these guys are immortal?
　For a moment such a thought crosses my mind, but I quickly dismiss it.

　There has to be a more realistic and straightforward reason.
　You can easily interpret it as immortality later.

'Regeneration ...... no, recovery ...... so!　Bran, it's you!
Oh, my God.

　After summoning the modified soldier, Bran didn't do anything to interfere and watched the battle situation from the second floor of the atrium - it looked like he was watching from the sidelines.

　However, in fact, he pretended to be a bystander and invoked his healing magic unnoticed.

　Immediately, Alexia readied her large crossbow (Scorpion) and fired a curse-loaded bullet, and Sakura tried to flesh out with [Shrinkage].

''I'm sorry.''

　However, the spell-loaded bullets stopped in a white light with one step left, and even the activation of the planted magic was blocked.

　Furthermore, as if Sakura was also blocked by an invisible wall, she failed to ride directly into the balcony with [shrinkage] and was thrown into the air.

''This is our castle. It's obvious that we've planted defensive measures in advance. But if they really tried to attack you, they might break through. That's why ......

　The next moment, the top of the high atrium - the glass ceiling - was broken through from the outside.

'They've called in reinforcements.'

　A half-dragon, half-human flapping its wings behind the broken glass.
　Julia, who had only her human face on the upper half of her body, spread her wings wide in the air and inhaled her breath.

''Gaaaaaah!''

　A torrent of flames spat out from directly above.

　It was Noir and Melissa who responded to the surprise flame (breath).

　The magic that the two of them invoked canceled out Julia's flames, and the hot air of the aftermath was blown out.

　Without a moment's notice, a second shot of flame rained down, and further heat waves scorched the skin.

　If a non-magical attack could reach that height, it would only be Alexia's large crossbow (Scorpion), but with the flames this intense, it would be difficult to hit it.

　Alternatively, Sakura and Nagi could use their movement skills to thin out the flesh, but there's no guarantee that they'll be able to win a head-on aerial battle against a dragon man with enhanced flight capabilities.

Julia: ......!
'Shit!　Golden Fang!　Let me go!

　Alexia was speechless as she looked up at the changed Julia, and Falcon writhed to tear the multiple restraints off on his own.

'Don't be a fool!　You know your place!
'I'm the only one who can fly as well as he can!　Or would you rather have the Easterners run into it and throw it away as a stone?
But you can go to ......
Please, just let me go!　The wings aren't in their element yet, but ...... that guy wants me to stop him!

　It was a heartfelt plea, as if he couldn't believe it had been released from the Falcon's mouth.

　Captain Hazel looked distressed, and then made a decision.

'Eeeee, it is unavoidable!　Miss Alexia!　Miss Noir!　I'm going to ask you to remove the restraints on the Falcon--
You don't have to.

　I put my hand on the restrained Falcon's back as if to slap it, and poured the magic power of 【Disassembly】 and 【Restoration】 into it all at once.

　The restraints shattered as they were [disassembled], and the injured and distorted wings regained their original shape.

''Nah......!
You're going to work yourself to death for all the trouble you've caused me. This won't be enough to make up ten percent of your trouble, though.
"Luke, you ...... don't thank me for what you did to me. ...... No, no, no, no, no, ......... ...Oh, crap ......!

　Falcon unfurled his wonderfully recovered wings and took off in a straight line over Julia in the sky.

'We'll talk later!　Go wait outside!

　It's a lot of work just to say thank you and thank you for saving me, that guy.

　Anyway, just when I thought I had to contribute to the battle, Captain Hazel made a suggestion to deny it.

'Luke-dono. You must leave this place.
...... Does that mean I should leave this place to you?
Bran's function is probably to keep us busy. You will take your friends and escape. Your best course of action would be to destroy the walls and send in reinforcements.

　I was puzzled by the sudden suggestion, but I couldn't think of any reason to deny it.

　Since Bran had tried to keep all of us back at once, it was just what Bran wanted to do, no matter what he thought, for all of us to remain here.

'...... I understand. I'll take Garnet and Sakura with me. Good luck.
Bring Miss Alexia and Miss Noir with you. We'll be fine.

　Captain Hazel told me so, but I shook my head without hesitation.

''Those two are just trying to fight their own cause. I can't interfere with them. Please take care of them both.