Chapter 614

Not long after the Blue Army retreated from the battlefield, a force of ten thousand soldiers, bearing the flags of Landenburg and the Empire, stepped onto the blood-soaked ruins.

The reserve forces left to defend the barrier and the reinforcements promised by Leopold. Though they were all mounted, their awkward postures suggested most were infantrymen rather than cavalry.

Probably, they were just strapped onto saddles to disguise ten thousand infantry as ten thousand cavalry.

The number ten thousand was just a bluff. Most had no training in horsemanship or cavalry tactics, so if a cavalry battle had broken out, they would’ve fallen like autumn leaves…

But Or-han fell for the bluff and retreated, so the gamble-like deception was a brilliant success.

—

“I was worried something had gone wrong when I heard you single-handedly held off Or-han and the Blue Army… but thankfully, it wasn’t too late. Are you alright?”

Ludwig, leading the troops into the battlefield, didn’t pursue the Blue Army retreating eastward.

Chasing them now would be pointless, and even if they caught up, they’d only suffer losses under the Blue Army’s rain of arrows. Those guys could retreat while maintaining perfect order, showering arrows all the while.

“Well, more or less…?”

I tossed the finished cigarette to the ground and used Durandal as a cane to stand up.

My body was covered in bruises, and my cracked joints ached, but compared to past battles, it wasn’t that serious—

“Cough.”

…Never mind. Now that I think about it, my organs are a bit messed up too.

“Milady!”

“Lord Ha-shal-leur!”

Nigel and Leonor, startled by my coughing up blood, rushed over to support me. Ja-han seemed like he wanted to help too, but the two were so fast that he awkwardly stopped mid-step, hand outstretched.

“…We’ll need to treat you first. Wait a moment. I’ll call a healing priest.”

Leaning on their shoulders, I received treatment from the priest Ludwig brought, slowly recovering my battered body. The bruises covering my body gradually faded, and the stabbing pain in my abdomen with each breath slowly subsided.

“I can’t believe you. You said you’d buy time and retreat, but instead, you almost made a one-way trip to the afterlife. Did you even hear a word I said, milady?”

Leonor, who had my left arm over her shoulder, didn’t stop scolding me throughout the treatment.

What were you thinking, staying behind alone? Did you even consider what would’ve happened if you’d lost? If the Lord of the Borderlands hadn’t arrived in time, it would’ve been a disaster.

I had no retort—she was right.

“Well, I did plan to retreat, but…”

Or-han evolved into a flying type before I could buy enough time.

A flying middle-aged man, Or-han was an opponent I couldn’t shake off. His flight efficiency and burst speed were superior to mine.

If I’d tried to run, his fist would’ve slammed into my back, and I’d have crashed. Probably would’ve broken my spine.

—

A few minutes later, once I’d recovered enough to ride a horse, Ludwig led us back to the barrier.

Despite mobilizing ten thousand troops, the only achievement was taking out a hundred or so enemy scouts. But lingering here any longer would’ve been suicide, as Or-han could return with an equal force at any moment.

I mounted a horse provided by a knight, riding alongside Ludwig as we discussed the events.

“You arrived faster than I expected. I thought it’d take at least a few hours.”

I’d sent up pillars of flame during the battle to signal our situation, but given the distance, I thought it’d take at least three hours in the worst case.

“I figured you’d arrive by today, so I moved the ten thousand troops forward in case you couldn’t shake off the pursuit. Thanks to that, we made it just in time.”

“I see. Thanks to that, I’m alive.”

“If the pursuing force had been in the tens of thousands, we might’ve been wiped out… but it seems Or-han didn’t have the resources for that.”

Ludwig laughed as he lit a thick magical cigarette.

Though I went through hell, in the end, we took out thousands of Ka`har with minimal losses and even forced Or-han to retreat. For him, it was a satisfying outcome.

Of course, if I’d died, it would’ve been a massive loss, but since I was safely rescued, it all worked out.

—

“By the way, on our way here, I saw something… unless my eyes deceived me, it looked like you and Or-han were flying through the air…?”

He sounded unsure, questioning whether what he saw was real or just an illusion.

Well, if a Westerner was flying, you could assume they were a magician, but seeing a Ka`har flying would’ve been hard to believe. Even for a magician, free flight requires the skill of a high-level mage.

“Ah, that? Yeah, we were flying.”

I nodded casually and briefly explained how I flew and how Or-han did it.

“Using the recoil of punches and propulsion from flame magic to fly through the air…? Is that even possible?”

“It worked when I tried it.”

“Wow…”

Ludwig let out a dumbfounded sigh. Honestly, I hadn’t thought it was possible either until I saw Or-han flying.

There were plenty of flying beings in the original work, but most used levitation magic, flight abilities from heroic tales, or had wings on their backs.

From what I could recall, no warrior had ever gained flight through such a makeshift method like Or-han or me. So, it’s no wonder Ludwig couldn’t believe it.

“Good heavens, now you’re flying too?”

Even Leonor, who was listening, reacted as if I wasn’t human.

“The efficiency… well, the stamina consumption is massive.”

To put it simply, if levitation magic consumed 10 units of mana, my flight method burned through nearly 50 units of energy in the same time.

It’s fast, but the efficiency is terrible.

Considering even high-level mages prefer fighting on the ground due to the mana cost of levitation, you can imagine how inefficient my method is.

The sheer amount of life force technique I burned through in just an hour was staggering.

“Efficiency is a secondary issue. If you can fly freely through the air, the range of tactics available to you expands exponentially. Unless it’s a situation like this, you can safely retreat from any battlefield.”

Ludwig’s eyes sparkled with admiration. It was the look of a strategist witnessing the birth of an air force. New tactics involving me seemed to be sprouting in his mind.

“That’s true.”

As he said, the ability to fly had immense utility.

Unless I was facing a strong opponent who could match my speed or in a situation where retreat was impossible, I could always leave the battlefield.

If I wanted, I could blow up the Imperial Palace and fly away unscathed. Archers couldn’t shoot me down due to my protection, and most spells could be cut down with Durandal.

Even a hero-level knight wouldn’t be able to stop me unless they had a heroic tale capable of shooting down a flying being.

—

A few hours later, I finally returned to the Berengeiria Wall. But I couldn’t rest easy.

“Sissss!”

Rana, waiting in my room, didn’t hug me but instead pounded on my back. She scolded me for how worried she’d been.

I don’t know how she found out, but she already knew I’d stayed behind alone to hold off the Blue Army. That I’d almost died, and though I survived, I’d suffered significant injuries.

The visible wounds had already healed by the time I returned to the wall, so I thought I’d keep it a secret from Rana… but someone must’ve spilled the beans while I was washing up.

Probably Leonor, who was snickering beside me. Her grin stretched from ear to ear.