Who could have imagined this scene?
　The battlefield was filled with screams of anguish.

　The Royal Army was there, fleeing from an army of only a few thousand men, in a confused retreat.
　It was obvious that the front line had collapsed and the chain of command was in disarray.

　Like a hunter chasing away his fleeing prey, the black-robed army progressed relentlessly.
　The geometric patterns carved into the iron skeleton, the demonic steel exterior like full-body armor, the writhing flesh like a living creature - a distorted, deformed puppet was revealed.

　The Keparnia grasslands sank into blood.
　One of the brave knights standing on the stained earth drew his sword and confronted the doll as he worked his lord.

''Ooooooooooooooooooh!''

　With a roaring cry and a well-trained body, he swung his sword.
　It's a good idea to have a good time with a good friend.

　Geez.
　I'm not going to be the only one who can do that.
　The scattered pieces of iron gouged the knight's cheek shallowly.
　At the same time, he felt a numbness that caused him to remove the sword in his hand.

''Guh, d*mn it!　Huh!　Stay away from me, uh...
　The doll approached the knight who had lost his gain and waved his arm at the knight without any emotion, his neck spiraled off and he flew into the air.
　There was a creaking mechanical noise with each step, dragging the blood-soaked arm as tall as he was, and with each step he took.
　The outpost's bow didn't sting, and the knight's sword didn't look like it had any teeth.
　Only the damage to us is spreading one-sidedly.

　The magic troops who couldn't see it unleashed their magic to support the front line's retreat.　
　The kingdom's battalions are basically fire-attributed troops.
　Twenty, thirty fireballs were born one after another, flying in to burn the dolls.
　The blood-stained grasslands were now engulfed in fire and the fire spread red.
　It appeared to be the first effective strike against the doll.

''Yah!''
　Seeing the army of burning puppets, the voices of the joyful knights overlapped with each other.

''No ... no ... no ... no they're not, they're not going down!
　The puppet began to take one step at a time, and then another, even as its body was wrapped in fire.

'A water membrane...'
　Someone uttered in dismay.
　The legions of steel advancing through the fire walked with ease as they donned their water armor on their bodies.
　The march of the lifeless was eerie in its own right.
　No screams rose to attack, no screams were raised, and all emotion was missing from the carnage, and they just stared at the enemy with dry eyes.

　This time the magic from Estor's army flies in as payback.
　Of course, there was no way to prevent it like a puppet, and hundreds of people had become prey to the magic.

''Oh, you guys!　Don't pull back. Fight!　Fight or flight!　We are the knights of the glorious kingdom!
　The nobleman who is shouting that is the first to run away.
　The commander runs away, why would his subordinates stop and fight?
　As if to disguise her faint impatience, Krista looked at the leading army that was retreating with a mixture of disappointment and dismay.

''Why don't we just put aside our vanity.......''
　I'm not going to be able to say that I'm not going to be able to get my hands on any of them. I'm sure you'll be able to find a lot of good reasons to go for it.
　Even so, the army here is over fifty thousand. It's a good idea to know just one method of warfare, since the difference in military strength is more than twice as great as that of the other troops, and they're going to collide on an unobstructed grassy plain.
　Hence, if they were attacked by unexpected enemy soldiers and showed signs of struggle - the fragility of the command system would be a drag.

''Guh!　Move, move, move!　I'll take the lead in the rear!
　The first nobleman to flee was the count who commanded 3,000 men at the front.
　Of course, the troops were confused and their morale was in despair.
　In addition to the fact that it is a mixed army of various feudal nobles, irresponsible retreats have been overlapping, and confusion is occurring in many places.

　The first battle can already be called an inexplicable defeat.
　Indeed, the threat of that astounding puppet army is great. But the dragging of our own army is also terrible.
　Even though the Marquis Ronald hasn't issued any orders to retreat, the nobles on the front lines are fleeing in advance.
　In this situation, they can't make use of their superiority in numbers.

　However, it is natural that this is a battle that the aristocrats were already aware of the fact that they were going to win before they fought.
　You'll find that the difference between Estor and the kingdom is obvious, both in terms of military strength and quality of weapons.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a good deal more information on this in the article.
　If the other party was not soldiers, and at the point when they drew out an uncanny army of about five thousand, if they had been alert, they could have reduced the damage to their allies a bit more.
　Besides, we have an advantage in numbers at times. It's inappropriate to call it a discarded stone, but Krista thinks that if you put a wallflower in place to stall the puppets and set up a magical battle against Estor's army in the rear, you have a good chance of winning.

'Peace is something that can blunt the blade to this extent...'
　Krista, who stood in the line of death as an adventurer every day, couldn't help but think so.
　To the point of overwhelm, there were not enough commanders. If this was the case, it would be many times better to give the ten chiefs and centurions greater command authority, except for all the nobles.
　In fact, some of the platoons led by the knights of the Kingsguard have been stepping up and fighting.

　This is what happened to the big nobleman who was too attached to his own life, dressed in splendid armor. It's a good thing that you're not the only one who's been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

''It's a hapless thing...''

''All of the kingdom's nobles are supposed to be trained in military strategy and military arts...''
　But this is an earlier issue.
　For many years - that is, they have not known war since before they were born, and they don't have the will to fight itself.

'But that black army is a nuisance... I didn't expect Estor to have a hidden gem like that...'
　Yuri, who led a single platoon in the rear like Krista, said.

''Would you be able to cut?''
　Krista asks.

'Well, I'm sure you can slash, but so what... you're moving without a care in the world, whether your arms are slashing or your body... you could take him down with a single blade, but your weapon is going to be ruined very quickly. ...If anything, a blunt instrument would be more effective.


　Amidst the screams and shouts, a calm Yuri and Krista took measures.
　But the onslaught of lifeless things did not end there.
　No, in fact, it's not an exaggeration to say that this is where the real work begins.



"You monster, go to hell!
　Crushed by the blunt weapon held by the powerful and proud knight in the front line, at a cost of nearly two hundred, I could finally see a few dolls whose arms had been torn off, their heads were broken, and they were beginning to be unable to move.

''Hehe, what's it like!
　And then another doll reached out to the enthusiastic knight, who fell down in front of him.
　For a brief moment, everyone wondered if they were going to help. The broken doll, held by the two of them, was thrown deep into their own camp.

'No!　Avoid!
　The warning that was issued after detecting the glow of magic power that had intensified into a runaway, was inexplicably too late.
　At the same time, the doll flying in the air became unusually red-hot and flew from the sky like an arrow. It exploded, spewing out an enormous amount of heat with a flash of light.

　The sound of the explosion made my ears tremble.
　The center of the explosion was deeply gutted, and a cloud of crushed dust billowed up with blood.
　The magic power and the magical power of the magical stone that they wore was run amok, resulting in an explosion.
　The power is immense.
　The armor that the knight wears is suddenly melted and pieces of flesh crushed by the impact are scattered like bright red fireworks.

''..........
　There was no one to say a word at the earliest.
　However, as well as turning away from the reality that they didn't want to see, the soldiers were the first to run away in defeat.

　It's not surprising.
　It is difficult to maintain morale when the opponent is not a person but a doll.
　You can't feel the elation of slaying someone, and it's hard for the blade to pass through and for blood to spurt out. The inorganic nature of the battle makes the soldiers fearful.
　Moreover, even if you defeat them, if they blow themselves up on the spot, it will lead to their own deaths, and since they will be used as bombs, this is an opponent you would not normally want to fight.　
　Furthermore, the opponent is not fatigued, and this one is forced to exhaust his or her strength one way or another.

　A doll that doesn't need to rest can naturally fight at all hours of the day.
　On the other hand, one must take a rest.
　They constantly put themselves on the battlefield, constantly wreaking mighty destruction, and even if they are defeated, they will self-destruct and become collateral damage.

　A week passes as they repeatedly use Krista's ice magic and the earth magic of the magic squad to stall the war of retreat, and the kingdom's army of over 50,000 has suffered nearly 10,000 casualties, and is wounded by repeated battles and night battles.








　Day and night, something out of Grasus' command continues to slaughter.

'This is what you call this kind of thing war...'
　Glassus couldn't help but say so.

'It's good--all in accordance with Your Majesty's will.

　That's what the woman who commands the puppets says.
　But it's never satisfactory.

'............'
　Grasshopper just looked up at the battlefield sky in silence. ,.