As I plunged into the dust of war with Klau Solas, I drew my sword and cut down the enemy roughly - not like that.

　It's simple: even if you wield a sword on the back of a wyvern, it can't reach the enemy. According to what I heard from Astrid (the eldest daughter of Lord Dragnaut) in the royal capital, the Canarian dragon knights have long spears and crossbows (crossbows) as standard equipment.

　Originally, I should have followed suit, but in my case, there is a long-range attack using the power technique, or fire magic from Miroslav's own tradition. It's not necessary to use an unfamiliar weapon.

　It's a good thing that you're not the only one who can get the job done.

　In fact, all I had to do was try to stay out of Klau Solas' way.



　As I've mentioned before, wyverns don't just use their wings to fly, they also use the magical power inside their bodies. Vertical takeoffs and landings and flight in arrears (hovering) are just this.

　In this case, Klau Solas used his magical power to increase his own strength and plunged into the ground at near full speed. The impact would have been equivalent to a huge rock thrown by a projectile (catapult).


　A roar exploded, and countless clods and pieces of stone flew through the air. Before long, they rained down on their surroundings.


　The ground where Klau Solas landed on was gouged out as if it had been hit by a meteorite, and the demons standing on it were crushed to pieces without retaining their original form.

　The body fluids of the scattered demons turned the falling earth and sand into a scarlet color.

　The demons that had been attacking the adventurers in a frenzied manner stopped moving as if stunned.

　The adventurers were no exception, and an untimely silence was created in the scene of the tormenting battle. I didn't miss the opportunity and called out in a loud voice, "Adventurers!


''Adventurers!　The Sword of Blood and Smoke has taken this place!　Hurry up and get out!


　It makes my nose twitch a little while saying resolutely.

　--I'll take care of things here and go ahead!

　The words were a little different, but I was able to say a line that I wanted to say at least once in my life. It's not something I think about now, but I'm happy about it.


　And while I was secretly thinking about this, there was already movement in the crowd of demons. The appearance of Crow Solas had many demons surprised, confused and alarmed and stopped moving, but that was not the limit of the people rushing in from behind.

　They push out the things that have stopped moving, scraping and trampling the things that have stopped moving, and one after another the new ones come rushing in with the force to crush them. In fact, not a few demons have ended up being trapped under their own kind.

　I urged Klau Solas to rise up in the air. I couldn't move if the demons swarmed me on the ground.


'Klau Solas, let's move on. This time we won't land, we'll scrape through the swarm of demons at the ground level.

Phew!


　Clow Solas spreads his wings wide open at my command.

　However, since we stopped once, we'll have to turn around in a large circle and re-charge in order to bring it to maximum speed again. Given the speed of the new demon, it will reach the adventurers before our turn is finished.

　Tsk, I click my tongue.

　It was a mistake to kill the momentum against this horde. I can't help but be aware of my inexperience as a dragon rider.

　If it was Lord Dragnoth or Astrid, they would have fought more efficiently.


''Well, I guess it's no use regretting it. The first thing to do now is to halt the enemy - 'The flower that breathes fire. It is a fire-sucking flower. They ripen and swell, they are fruitful and fall.'


　You try out the new fire magic that Miroslav has given you.

　It's a third circle of magic. In terms of destructive power, it's not quite as destructive as the fifth circle's Flame Princess, but it's more useful as a dragon rider.

　It was, in a manner of speaking, magic to drop bombs.


''Let it go--Hosenka!


　Bell-shaped red fruits appear in the air. Each one is as big as my head. There are thirty of them. They were attached to the clusters, and soon they were off the clusters with a snapping sound as if they couldn't bear their own weight, and dropped to the ground.

　The moment the fruit touched the ground, it exploded with a sound.

　The flames that were contained within rose up as a flame, and pieces of flame scattered around it like scattered bullets. The heat that was spreading in the blink of an eye maintained a level of heat that could burn human skin.

　They continued to fall onto the demons' noses, and the demons' screams became extremely high.



　Again, the destructive power of this 'Fengshengka' is not as destructive as the 'Flame Princess'. Unless it was a direct hit, it would not be able to defeat the demons. The fact that the summons has been raised means that it is healthy enough to raise its voice.

　However, due to the nature of magic, it is more than enough useful as a stall. It's not that long of a chant, and you can chant continuously without bothering to discard the chant to reduce its power. You can also increase the power of the power by casting a powerful spell.

　It's a good idea to have a good time with them.

　I have to thank Miroslav for finding and imparting useful magic to the dragon knight.


''It's more like I should have done this from the beginning.

Puii....

'No, no, I never blamed you!　The earlier attack was effective with the earlier attack!

Pui?

Yeah, really, really!


　So cheer up. By the time I finished encouraging Klau Solas with that, the crucial turning was ending.

　Looking at the ground, the majority of the adventurers had already moved to retreat. Unlike the regular soldiers who obeyed their superiors' orders, the adventurers moved on their own individual decisions. For better or worse, they are light.

　At this rate, two or three more rounds of stirring up the enemy would be enough for them to retreat.

　I'm also concerned about the state of the village, where the plague has returned, and I'd better get this place over with.

　I thought that as I bent over in the saddle to prepare for the re-entry.



◆◆◆



　After covering the adventurers, I headed to the village on the upper reaches of the Kale River as planned.

　There are more than twice as many ships floating on the surface of the Kale River as usual.

　All of them were probably carrying refugees from the Stampede. With demons blasting through the streets, it was only natural for evacuation to become a waterway.

　On the ship that saw Crow Solas, there were screams from those who thought it was a monster attack, but when I waved my hand from the dragon's back, it changed to cheers.

　Perhaps they thought that the dragon knight of the royal capital had come to their rescue. It was a misunderstanding, but there was no need to correct it.


　This is how we arrived at this village.

　As I expected, we were attacked here as well. However, the scale of the attack wasn't too large, and only the guards and the villagers were able to repel it.

　After that, it seems that most of the villagers had finished evacuating on the boats sent by the Ishqa government office.

　But a small number of people still remained in the village, and the officials were having a hard time dealing with them.

　In other words, what to do with the sick people who were so poisoned that they couldn't even move.


　I told them that I had brought an item that was (presumably) more effective than the antidote on the market, but the officials' expressions didn't change.

　I stepped into the hut where the sick people were being quarantined, leaving the official's words at the bottom of my ears - it was no longer a phase where the medicine was concerned.

　I could feel the stench of decay stinging my nose. The cloth the officials had given me covered my nose and mouth in layers.

　It was strangely quiet in the darkened hut, and I didn't hear a single moan, let alone a single voice from anyone or anything.


　I arched my eyebrows at myself. For some reason, my feet didn't move. The air in this hut rejects the existence of the living - I felt that way.

　However, there is no way I can turn around here. I decided to make up my mind and encouraged my sluggish legs.

　Then I approached one of the beds and quietly looked into the face of the one who was sleeping.

　I looked in and regretted it.