*

　Ignis looked at the corpses of the Imperial soldiers lying in a heap on the hill and felt something close to relief.
　It was relief that he had been able to defend the city of Markab, relief that he had been able to give meaning and value to the soldiers' deaths.
　They had done their part.
　Their deadly deeds had allowed four thousand of Ignis' men to reach the city of Markab before the imperial army did.
　They were heroes.
　They should be honored as heroes.
　Even if their deaths as heroes were of no comfort to those left behind.
　That should buy us some time.
　Because after causing so much damage, the Imperial Army has no choice but to return to their home country in peace.

''But I don't understand.

　Why did the Imperial Army do so much damage?　And Ignis didn't know how many times he thought about it.
　Originally, the bonfire was a preparation in case he didn't make it back alive.
　A competent commander would see the bonfire and hesitate to march.
　Even if it was only for half a day.
　He wanted to buy time for his men to reach Markab.
　The purpose of the bonfire last night was to make them feel alert.
　If we are alert, we will be cautious.
　You try to read our intentions and imagine what we're trying to do.
　I was going to poke at that, but the Imperial Army hadn't even finished lining up.

''........Is it a trap?''

　That madman........if it was Crono, no, Ignis denied.
　That man is crazy, but he's not the kind of person who can leave his subordinates to die with impunity.

''Well then.........''

　Just as he was about to mutter, a man was pulled up in front of Ignis by his men.
　It was the man who hung one arm.

'Who is the man?'
Ha, I caught her hiding in a bush.

　Hmm, Ignis looked down at the man.
　The man seemed to be a nobleman, judging from his clothes.

'I have a question for you, sir.
....

　The man was silent, but Ignis decided to ignore him and continue.

'Why weren't the Imperials in position?'
"...Master Alfort saw the bonfire and decided to retreat.

　Alfort?　And Ignis repeated the familiar name in his mind.

'Oh, it's Alfort!

　The priesthood officer ran up to the man and grabbed him by the chest.

'Is Alfort, the bastard son of Ramal V, here?
Yeah, yeah!

　The Shinigami Officer removed his hand from the man and smiled maliciously.

'Torture this guy!　Get more information out of me!
Please wait, sir.
Don't worry. The priests in the Pure White Temple are very good.

　Could he survive the unending hell of being tortured and healed?　And Ignis watched the man being dragged away by the soldiers.

'This is the will of God.'
Didn't the Council of Shinto Religion lose an army?

　Ignis asked, and the Divine Officer looked in the direction of the city of Markab.

'Did you think you were the only one waiting for your men to arrive?
....

　Ignis turned around and saw that the soldiers in formation in two vertical columns were about to come up the hill.
　Although they were made up of only infantry, their numbers were........nearly three thousand.
　Judging from their equipment, the regular soldiers are two thousand and the peasants are about a thousand.



　The Gion Officer said with a twinkle in his eye.

*

　Four hundred and sixty heavy infantry, seven hundred and ten infantry, and three hundred and thirty archers, for a total of one thousand five hundred men, was the total strength given to Crono.
　The equipment is mixed.
　The older subordinates are equipped with the same design of armor, but the newer subordinates are equipped with subhumans that have been stripped from corpses or struck down to escape as quickly as possible, so there is no uniformity.
　Aside from the old subordinates, a subordinate who just became a subordinate cannot be expected to have a high level of skill.
　This is because it's hard to imagine that the training content was substantial even though they weren't provided with decent armor and armor.
　In short, they are a crowdsourced group.
　And yet, it's no laughing matter, because the role expected of them is to buy time for the main unit to reach the Imperial territory.
　No, in fact, I have no choice but to laugh.
　That's why Crono tried to laugh.

''General, did you get mad?'' (Bum?)
I'm afraid I'm insane.

　Crono stopped stroking his right eye and stood up.
　Crono and his deputy are a few hundred meters from the entrance of the bottleneck.

''Can we go for another blowout like last year?'' (Bum?)
'His Highness won't be coming out this time, so it will be hard to get a shot at a reversal. The only way to do it is to draw the enemy back in. For now, we need to build momentum.
"Hey." (Bumo)
"'So I will lay down my men and blast the enemy with magic!　Deneb, Aridid, are you ready!
I can't do that.

　Huh?　Crono's voice trailed off.

'You know that pillar of fire went up with a thumping thump last year?　That's the thing, that's the thing, just do the thing.
'It's the fireball dance, isn't it?　It was Leila who did it.
'I mean, Leila is the only one who can use advanced fire magic, right?

　When Crono bit down, Deneb and Alideed said, as they should.

'Aren't elves able to use all strains of magic?
I can just use the fire, water, earth and wind attributes all over the place.
That's only an intermediate level.

　Oh, really?　And Crono laughed dryly.
　'I don't want to be told that I can only use it up to intermediate level in this situation.

''Then what are you going to do?''
"What?

　Hahaha, Crono, Deneb, and Alideed all three laughed.

''Well this is no time to laugh.''

　Now I have five thousand gold coins, thirty carts, and ten bags of milled wheat.
　What to do?
　What are we going to do, throw out a few gold pieces to slow them down?
　No, that's weak.
　We need to win to boost morale.
　They may not look like much of a loss to us, but we need to keep winning.

You know what? We're going to stay here.
Look, we're women. We can buy ourselves some time.

　Letting out a sigh, Crono looked at Deneb and Arididid.

'....Deneb, Alideed, don't you ever spit that kind of line again.
"But,
'That would be demoralizing, and I don't want you to die when I'm about to take you to bed when I get back to my territory.
"Well, seriously!

　He hadn't planned to take Deneb and Alideed to bed at all, but he'd rather spit out a lie or two than let them both make a tragic decision.

'Yeah, but if we can recreate that explosion,'

　Crono scratched his hair he suddenly stopped his hand.

'I can!　Mr. Minot, get my box!　Horus, come here!
"It's so heavy, how can you keep the bottom up?" (Bumobuobu)

　Crono took the package out of the box and removed the bottom plate.
　There was a large amount of gold coins there.
　Crono grabbed the gold coins and scattered them on the ground.

''Whoa!''
What are we gonna do with it?

　As Deneb and Alideed tried to pick up the gold coins that had been scattered around, Crono rushed in as fast as he could.

'This is a trap, trap!　Horus, sprinkle wheat flour on the gold!　Deneb and Aridid choose an elf who can use the whirlwind dance and stay on high ground!　I'll keep you updated on the situation!
"Don't waste your time throwing the wheat to the wind.
Life is more important than wheat!

　Horus covers the place where Crono scattered the gold coins with wheat flour.
　Finally, the gold coins are scattered on top so that the enemy soldiers can easily find them and the planting is over.
　Not only the new subordinates are looking at the sudden oddity, but also the old soldiers are looking at Crono with pitying eyes.
　Still, the military is great when they don't criticize you.
　It's too good to be ridiculous.

''General, are there any more gold coins left? (Bum?)
Oh, yeah.

　Crono thought for a moment.

Give them all to him. If they get separated, if they can make it to Imperial territory, they can go home.
"If you give me the gold, won't he run away?　No, we'll share our fate with Master Crono to the end.'' (Bumo?　(More~)
''It's the blood money of the lords, and I know it may seem like a public/private matter, but this much I want to at least reward my men enough to have some hope. Now, let's go to the back. Hopefully, I'll be able to blow their minds in the Holy Argo Kingdom.

　Crono smiled and proceeded to the back of the bottleneck.



　One day, a soldier came to the village.
　They said that they were looking for a soldier.
　They promised me that if I became a soldier, I would receive a substantial reduction in taxes for this year and ten silver coins as my salary.
　In addition, if you defeat the enemy, they'll give you an extra paycheck, and if you work hard enough, you'll be able to become a regular soldier.
　Kay invited his friends to join him and volunteer as a soldier.
　Ten silver coins would save her family a lot of grief, and she was attracted to the idea that she could make it with just one arm.
　Right now, Kay was carefully advancing through the bottleneck, wearing a rusty floating spear and tattered leather armor.
　At least Kay thought she was proceeding carefully.
　After a few moments of walking, a white powder covered the ground.
　Soon Kay noticed that on top of the powder was a gold coin.

'Ki, a gold coin!'

　It wasn't Kay who shouted that.
　While the idiot was shouting, Kay pocketed the gold coins and clutched the gold coins that were hidden under the powder.

'Ho, really!'
Hey, hey, gold!
"d*mn it, give me that!
"f*ck you, that's my gold!

　The bottleneck was quickly flooded with soldiers.
　They shouted and screamed at each other and fought for the gold.
　Some soldiers heard the commotion and joined in, adding to the confusion.

''Heh, ba-ka!''

　Kay, who was the first to leave, watched the foolishness as she thumbed through the gold coins.
　Hey, hey, I'm awesome.
　It hasn't even been half a day, and I've won a bunch of money.
　With all this, you can do anything you want.
　Once again, Kay flicked her fingers at the gold coins and noticed a person standing on the slope.
　It was a beautiful woman.
　That's an elf, Kay muttered, and the next thing she knew, she was standing there.

"Whirling Dance!

　A gust of wind rushed in and rolled up the powder that covered the ground.
　It was as if they were in a fog, and the red lotus flames painted Kay's vision.



　It was a hellish sight to see how long he had been unconscious, and it was a hellish sight to see in Kay's cloudy vision.
　People, his friends, were lying on the ground.
　No, some of them were on their feet, but their entire bodies were swollen and their skin was falling apart.
　The scene didn't feel real because the sound was as muffled as being in the water.
　Kay tried to get up to escape the hell, but her limbs were twitching and she couldn't get up.
　Well, no way, me too... Kay tried to scream, but instead of a voice, only a hissing gasp escaped.



　The flames billowed up, followed by a cloud of dirt smoke.
　The earth smoke thinned in density as it rose, and increased in volume by that amount.
　He looked at the earth smoke as if it were a mushroom.

"Bastards!　'The general has caught the enemy by surprise! (BUMO!)

　Crono started to run behind his second-in-command.

'General, what kind of magic did you use?' (Bum?)


　A moan filled one of the bottlenecks.
　The voice is that of an enemy soldier who was caught in the explosion and turned into a miserable sight.
　The whooshing and zealous sounds must be coming from an enemy soldier who had been burned to his airway.
　The main unit of the Holy Argo Kingdom was on the other side of the scorched road.
　They couldn't move.
　Perhaps they had been brought from the village like Kyle, but unfortunately, they had abandoned their position as helpless commoners once they had their weapons in hand.

''Charge!''

　Crono shouted, and the large sub-humans, led by Horus and Rizad, rushed into the main body of the enemy, mercilessly trampling the enemy soldiers as they fell to the ground.
　The enemy soldiers came to their senses when they saw their comrades being trampled to death, and they readied their weapons, but it was the lightning that struck them.
　The enemy soldiers were touched by the lightning from Rizad's mallet and fell to the ground in a heap.
　Rizad and the others trampled the fallen enemy soldiers and swung the mallet down on them.
　The enemy soldier's skull was shattered by the hammer, which was swung down with an incredible amount of physical force, and he collapsed like a doll.
　The young man standing in the front row - probably in his mid-teens - who was horrified by his companion being bludgeoned to death right next to him, threw down his rusty floating spear and tried to escape, but he was pushed away by a young man in the second row.
　The young man who was pushed away had his skull smashed by a mallet.
　His eyeballs popped out with great force, and his nose spurted with blood.
　The young man in the second row seemed to have decided to take a chance, and to inspire himself, he let out a strange cry and thrust his spear at Rizad.
　It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.
　The young man let go of the spear and escaped the difficulty, but the next moment the spear's stone thrust pierced the young man's throat.
　The young man must have understood why the stone thrust was covered with metal.
　However, the opportunity to make use of that experience would not come around again, though.
　Next to Rizad, Horus was thrusting his spear at the enemy soldiers.
　Horus only lightly thrust his spear out, but the enemy soldier raised his arms to protect his face.
　Horus speared the enemy soldier in the gut and repeated the same thing with his next opponent.
　A trained soldier would have avoided or received the attack, but the enemy soldier in his near-amateur state reflexively tried to protect his face.
　Horus reversed that reflex action.
　Even the subordinates who had fought straight at first mimicked Horus' fighting style.
　The increased number of hands seems to be tiring, but if they can lightly raise their weapons to block their opponent's movements, they should play it safe.
　Now, who is the enemy's commander?　He looked around, and soon Crono spotted a man inspiring a soldier at a slight distance.

'Deneb, Arideed, shoot through the enemy commander. Nasr, when the enemy commander is dead, give him a visit of fire.
Copy that.

　Two arrows shot through the enemy commander's head from both sides, and flames rained down on the enemy.
　A scream went up.
　The enemy soldiers, who have been turned into human candles, rolled on the ground to escape the flames that enveloped them, but there was no escaping them.
　Some enemy soldiers were vomiting after inhaling the smell of their comrades' burning.
　Despite the situation, the enemy soldiers did not run away.
　''Don't run away!　Fight!　Because another man was shouting at him.
　Tan!　And an arrow sticks to the eye of the man who was screaming.

'You've killed the enemy commander!　Push off!

　The faces of Rizad's and Horus's troops shouted a bullhorn in response to Crono.
　This time, the enemy soldiers' will to fight was frustrated.

''Chase them up!''

　Normally ... if it weren't for this situation, I would let it go, but now is the time to pile on the wins.
　However, I don't intend to go deep.
　That's why I chose the relatively slow lizardmen and minotaurs.
　The elven archers fired arrows at the defenseless backs of the enemy soldiers, while the lizardmen and minotaurs cleaved off one by one the enemy soldiers who couldn't escape due to the backs of their comrades.
　The carnage lasted for an hour or so, and the bottleneck was filled with the stench ... the stench of blood, feces and burnt flesh.
　The enemy was nowhere to be seen.
　The commander was gone, so they must have temporarily withdrawn and regrouped their forces.
　The damage inflicted on the enemy is just over two hundred people.

''Crono-sama!　Did you see that?
I've never seen anything like it!

　Deneb and Aridid spread their arms as if to express an explosion as soon as they ran down the slope.
　Crono felt a slight regret at their childlike flailing, but he quickly lifted the edge of his mouth.
　Crono stroked Deneb and Alideed's ears and turned to his men, who were waiting behind him.

I blew my mind!
'Ooh!　Long live Master Crono! (BUMO!)
"Master Crono!
"Lady Crono! (Shhh!)

　The second-in-command barked, and the old subordinate raised his weapon high in the air.
　As if caught in the act, the new subordinate barked as well, his eyes shining with excitement.

*

　Sitting down on the slope, Crono was taking an early meal.
　He had to give up sitting on the street because of the large stones lying all over the place.
　Sober harassment, right? said Crono, patting a nearby stone.
　The imperial army suffered heavy losses because of this unsophisticated harassment and ambush, so it was not to be underestimated.
　I'd rather abandon the wagons, but I can't do that either because I have to carry spare weapons and I want to use them as barricades in case of an emergency.
　I guess this kind of humble harassment will lead to victory, Crono stopped moving with his grip on his hard bread.

''........?''

　I felt somewhat uncomfortable, but I don't know why.

''General, what's going on?'' (Bum?)
No, it's nothing.

　Crono shook his head.
　If you're talking about a strange feeling, then the current situation itself, where they were fighting side by side with elves, dwarves and beastmen in another world, was strange.

''Wasn't that overly dramatic just now?
"Under the circumstances, if you don't get drunk on the atmosphere and yourself, you won't be able to keep your morale up." (Bumo)

　Crono asked as he chewed on the hard bread, and the deputy replied as he crunched up the hard bread with a bang.

'I let you make it yourself, but it's not very good, is it?
I have a savory taste, and I like it. (More?)
"So chewy, it's almost addictive, that it's almost addictive.

　Taiga wagged his tail happily as he chewed on the hard bread with a bakkie-bakkie.
　Apparently, the hard bread was well received by the beastmen.

''So, what are you going to do with Deneb and Alideed?'' (Bum?)
Oh, I told you two.
You planning on building a harem? (Bum?)

　Crono's cheeks relaxed at the sound of the word "harem".

'That would be nice, but first we have to survive.
"The chief will live a long time, I'm sure.

　Crono reached for the pouch, but stopped as his jaw went numb.

'Why don't you lick the candy?' (Bum?)
It's very valuable. What about everyone else?
"I licked one of them when I was given it. Well, I felt it was a bit of a shame, but I made sure to reallocate it properly, so you don't have to worry about that.

　Apparently, the candy is being distributed to the new subordinates.

........redistribution?

　Crono picked up a stone.

Why don't you throw this rock at him?
"General, you are too abrupt as usual." (Bumo)
'Sorry, sorry. I figured if I shot arrows like I've been doing, they'd be gone soon. If it's a stone, there's a reasonably sized one lying around. The heavily armed infantryman in the front row bends down with his weapon and the heavily armed infantryman in the second row throws the stone. It's like the third row and onwards pick up the stones.
"As the days go by, the general's aristocratic nature diminishes." (Bumo)

　When Crono explained with a gesture, the deputy said in a tone of resignation.

''I've never seen an actual nobleman fighting like a nobleman, so I don't want you to expect it.
"Lord Leonhardt sounds like a nobleman, doesn't he? (More?)
I'm pretty sure you're going to die in ten ways.

　How many lives won't be enough for you if you do what Leonhardt did?

"Bastards!　The general's orders!　Pick up the rocks! Bum!　Too!　(Mo~!)
I want you to cut the dead grass on the slope and load it on the wagon.
The general's orders!　'Cut the dead grass on the slope!' (BUMO!)

　When the second-in-command gives the order, his men cut up their meals, collect the stones, cut the dead grass and start loading the wagons.
　With all the competent deputies and serious subordinates, there's nothing for Crono to do.
　At best, he can only think about what is to come.

''If you make ... three days, no, two days,''

　The main force would be able to reach Imperial territory.
　

''Crono-sama, enemy attack!
Rizad, you're in the front row!　Horus, hold the cart back!　Deneb, Ariddead, stay on the slope, Taiga and Nasr, collect the stones!

　Rizad's squad quickly built a wall and the front row of heavily armed infantrymen sat down with a light grip on their weapons.
　The soldier in the second row grabbed a stone ... the size of a baby's head if he was not good enough ...

'Throw it!

　As Crono ordered, the second row of soldiers threw stones at the approaching enemy soldiers in the five ranks.
　However, the stones drew a mountainous trajectory.
　The stone dropped between the enemy soldiers a groan and a giggle escaped from the enemy soldiers.

'No, not that kind of throw!

　Crono grabbed a nearby pebble and threw the stone in pitcher-like form.
　It didn't reach at all, and the enemy soldiers burst into laughter.
　Some even ended up holding their bellies and rolling around laughing.
　A shell in front of Crono the stone passed in front of Crono with a speed that can only be described as such.
　The stone struck the face of an enemy soldier in the front row who was laughing with his stomach in his arms.
　The enemy soldier fell from the back of his head and remained motionless.
　Silence, no one could move.
　Crono smiled as he followed his adopted father's teachings, and the enemy soldiers retreated as if upset.

'Throw them around!'

　Following orders, the lizardmen resumed throwing.
　Although aided in large part by the terrain, the throwing stones were more effective than expected.
　The throwing stones split the heads of the enemy soldiers, shattering their ribs and rupturing their internal organs.
　Some of the tactful enemy soldiers huddled on the slope, but the elven archers showered them with magic, and they fell prey to the stone throwing away from the slope.



　Can you do that?　And Crono clenched his fists.

*

　Ignis stood beside the priesthood officer and listened to the reports sent in from the front lines.
　Traps and ambushes with gold coins, making the sub-humans throw stones that Ignis had scattered to slow the Imperial army's advance.
　How dare they do it, one after the other, Ignis was honestly impressed.
　However, if he hadn't been able to find out Crono's identity through torture, he would still be calling him a madman.

'What are you going to do about it, Lord Shinji,'
...nothing is going to change.

　Ignis asked, and the priesthood officer responded with an irritated tone in his voice.

'The enemy commander did you say Crono?　Sure, that's a tricky opponent, but how much planning can you do in this situation?　Ten, twenty, a hundred, or ten thousand?　No, I'd estimate it to be less than ten at most.
　Then, the Divine Councilor cut off his words.
''We just need to break through his schemes from the front.
....

　The conclusion the Gion Officer came to was the same one he had reached last year, and now with Ignis.

'A day and a half and we'll be able to kick his ass and capture Alfort.

　It was not an opponent that he would ever be able to win, but inevitably, Ignis couldn't be sure of his victory.



　It's this pattern again, Crono glared at the incoming enemy soldiers.
　The stone throwing was producing enough warfare that the enemy soldiers were marching in, avoiding casualties, but the enemy soldiers were coming in one after another.
　It was the same last year.
　Whenever the enemy inflicts damage, they rely on their numbers to break through our plans.
　No matter how much you try to plan, if you are attacked by numbers, you will be overwhelmed one day.
　Is this the difference between strategy and tactics?　And Crono bit his teeth as he inspired his subordinates.

''Master Crono, I've run out of rocks, that I have.'' (Gau)
"...throw all the stones we have left and then get back to the cart!　Archers fall back to cover!　When you're done waiting, set fire to the grass in your wagon!

　As the stones were thrown out, the enemy soldiers rushed in with a strange cry.
　Of course, the commander............................towards Crono, the human.
　But the enemy soldier fell forward as it was.
　An arrow pierced the hollow area of the basin.
　He was shot at from the slope.

''Archers!　Don't waste your arrows!　Block the enemy's view!
What a bunch of crap!
But I understand.

　Deneb and Alideed shouted, flames rained down on the enemy soldiers and gusts of wind rolled up the sand.

'Run, run!　Just run!
"The Chronosphere Runs!
"Master Crono is in last place.

　Kill, kill, kill, he's the commander!
　d*mn you, brother!
　Rip him to pieces!
　Crono ran while being cursed by the enemy soldiers.

''Excuse me, that is! (GASP!)

　Before you know it, Taiga and another beastman who was running alongside you grab Crono's belt and pants and carry him up.
　The two of them are carrying one of them, but it's faster than when Crono is running alone.

'No, yeah, I'm working out in my own way too.
"I bite my tongue, that I do! (GASP!)
Deeeeeeeee!

　Tyga and the others tossed him and Crono flew through the air.
　He jumped over the cart and rolled on the ground lazily as no one held him back.

'Fire, that is!' (GASP!)
"Flame dance!
"Flamebang!

　Taiga unleashed fire with his great sword and the two elves with their magic, and the ten carts blocking the bottleneck were instantly engulfed in flames.

'What is the next point where the stones are strewn about?'
"We've got a long way to go. "We've got a long way to go. If we keep retreating at this rate, we won't be able to fulfill our role as Lord.

　That's true.
　We have to hold the enemy at a bottleneck for at least two days.

'It's getting to the point where we can't just keep up the morale with small victories.
What are you doing? (Bum?)

　Crono crossed his arms.

''We'll split the squad into two. Mino-san, Horus, Rizad, and Nasr's squad will use wagons to set up a defensive position, while Deneb, Aridid, and Taiga will join me in a flank attack. Choose a hundred archers and two hundred infantry.

　If the enemy is going to attack us by numbers, we'll just make sure they can't.

'Mr. Mino, get your wagons up and barricade!　Barricade again at a distance!　And while you're at it, load up some dead grass... and while you're at it, cut down the trees growing at the top of the slope and drop them on the enemy soldiers!
It takes a long time to chop down a tree, doesn't it? (Bum?)
'Chopping down trees later!

　Crono crossed his arms and stopped Rizad as he started up the slope.
　Although there was some hesitation, it didn't take long for them to be ready to start moving.
　
　Then build the same barricade at a distance and pile the dead grass between them.

'We'll call the first barricade the first line of defence and the next one the second... There are twenty wagons left, we should have barricaded ourselves with wagons from the start. That way we could have preserved the dust explosion.
It's a very selective piece of equipment. It's hard to believe that people with blood on their hands from the slaughter of their friends will notice the gold.
Well, yeah.

　Crono let out a sigh and turned his attention to Deneb, Arididid, and Taiga.
　The three of them had already finished selecting their men and were waiting for Crono's orders.

''Then I'll be off.''
"General, good luck with your war.
You too.

　I wanted to spit out one of my witty lines, but if I could have done that, I wouldn't have spit out a line to the landlady like 'Let's f*ck until we get off our backsides'.

'Let's go, Deneb, Ariddead, Taiga!
We were waiting for Master Crono.

　Ignoring Deneb and Alideed's shoves, Crono climbed the slope.
　Along the way, he almost fell down several times, and with the support of the beastmen, he made it up the slope to find an enemy soldier trying to climb over a cart that had been turned to coal.

''Mo, there's a tremendous enemy?''
Don't worry, it's not as bad as last year.

　Crono lightly responded to Deneb and Alideed who said in a frightened manner.

''Well Crono-sama, your legs are shaking and-''
I'm a warrior.
　Gingerly, Crono advanced to the front of the pack. Deneb and Alideed were laughing at him, but after a moment they were quiet.
'Let's do it here,'

　Crono went forward a few dozen meters and lay down on the ground to check the enemy's situation, and after several repetitions, he declared.
　He chose that spot because the slope was loose enough for Crono to be able to climb it.

'Deneb, Arididid's squad will wait here, please cover us when we retreat. Taiga Squad, follow me!

　Crono drew his long sword and ran down the slope.
　However, he fell down on the way.
　I don't know why.
　Crono rolled down the slope and was thrown into the middle of the enemy soldiers.

''Ki, ki-har!''

　Crono, who used the unfortunate enemy soldier as a cushion to avoid serious injury, stood up and slashed at the enemy soldier with a strange cry.
　Eh?　And with a dumbfounded expression on his face, the enemy soldier was attacked by Crono and crumbled down with a white eye.

''Kyeeeeeeeee!''

　As Crono wielded his long sword recklessly, three men were cut down without resistance, and a fourth caught the long sword.
　The man's ability to discard his spear and use his sword, still in its sheath, to catch Crono's attack with his judgement told me that the man was an old soldier, but

Sorry.
What?　Gwahhhh!

　The man let out a wild scream as the beastman slashed him on the back and he fell back on his back.
　Taking advantage of the opportunity, Crono pulled out his dagger and thrust it into the man's neck.

''This, this........!

　Blood gushed out as he pulled the dagger forward.
　The man grabbed at me, but Crono ducked without difficulty.

''I've cooled my liver, that I have.

　In the blink of an eye, Taiga bled out the three enemy soldiers and held his sword up to protect Crono.
　Before he knew it, a circle had formed with Crono in the center.
　At first it was a small circle, but the diameter of the circle widened with each new beastman running down.

''Deneb, Alideed!　Send ten archers to the inside of the circle!
Copy that.
'The diameter of the circle ... lines!　Line up against the enemy!

　When Crono gave the order, the beastmen switched their formation from a circle to two lines.
　Then the elven archers arrived and stood behind the beastmen.

'Infantry, focus on the enemy in front!　Archers cover with magic!　Waiting teams, throw rocks and everything!
"You're a messenger!
"Why what?

　A puzzled voice sounded from the magic item for communication, but there was no time to answer politely.
　Until now, he had only been thinking about surpassing the enemy's attacks, but if he could fight this much, it might be better to repeatedly engage in idle combat to buy time, Crono looked at his subordinates who were slicing and dicing with the enemy soldiers.
　The beastmen slashed down the enemy one after another while being covered by magic.
　Deneb and the Aridead squad were also throwing things from above to cover them.
　Stones, clumps of earth, fallen trees and even dead animals rained down on them.
　The enemy soldiers who had been hit by the stones and clods looked up the slope with hatred, while the enemy soldiers who had been hit by the fallen trees stopped moving.
　The enemy soldier who had been hit by an animal corpse was ridiculed by his surroundings and turned over in shame.
　Crono and the others were gradually forced into a defensive battle, while gaining enough warfare to fill one corner of the bottleneck with corpses again.
　The reason was the difference in numbers.
　No matter how much the beastmen boasted of their superior physical abilities to humans, if they continued to fight, they would accumulate fatigue.

''Retreat for once!　Deneb, Aridid, cover!
Copy that.

　Arrows were released from the slope, and the elven archers who had been waiting behind the beastmen released a flaming dance to match them.
　While the enemy soldiers were frightened by the flamboyant flames and explosions, the elven archers and Crono were able to evacuate to the middle of the slope, but the few beastmen who had drawn the enemy to the end were not able to do so.
　Surrounded by enemy soldiers, a spear was thrust into the beastmen's throats.
　Faster than Crono could blurt out a voice, the mortally wounded beastmen jumped at the enemy soldiers and swung their arms and legs around.
　A scream went up, and the enemy soldiers rushed the mortally wounded beastman.