[Danilo de Asturias PoV]
"I must reclaim my honor in this war."
That was the only thought in my mind after that youth humiliated me in front of all the nobles and the Emperor during that meeting.
In the first battle, although we possessed forces far superior to theirs, those Non-Sorcerers were still able to withstand our onslaught. Marshal Salazar eventually had no choice but to order the knights to intervene and assist in seizing this fortress city. He then commanded me to lead 100 Knights to conquer this Fortress City as quickly as possible.
However, the knights I led encountered significant resistance from the enemy fighters, who were led by a young woman with black hair. She was seen fighting several Knights simultaneously using magic! Does that mean she is the rumored woman?
After attempting to attack her, my suspicions were proven correct. She is Siena di Reginossa, nicknamed "The Miracle" because, besides being the only descendant of the Venetian Nation capable of using magic, she frequently creates brilliant innovations. Currently, we are clashing in a contest of strength, our swords crossing.
Activating a magic superior to Temper magic—Fuerte magic—I was able to overpower the woman in front of me, sending her body recoiling backward. However, I will not give her a chance to breathe. I will restore my honor by defeating the woman worshipped by the Venetian Nation!
"Asphalt!"
Activating my highest speed magic, I lunged toward her and launched a combo attack.
"Dance of The Dragon!"
I aimed five slashes at her, but she managed to parry three and evade the remaining two. Activating Avilar magic and expanding the Mana Spectrum on my blade, I launched a swift thrust toward her face. However, she anticipated it and dodged the strike. Nevertheless, her right cheek was sliced, drawing blood due to the Mana Spectrum surrounding my sword.
The woman then launched a counterattack with a sword slash that emitted an orange light.
Clang!
I managed to block it with my sword. However, my body was pushed back by the strength buff she had just activated while launching her attack. I looked at her; her facial expression was serious, and the blood trickling down her cheek made her look like a cold-blooded Female Knight.
Very well, let us make this fight even more intense.
"Ignite..."
After I uttered that word, the sword I held began to burn with a blazing flame.
"Flaming Dragon!"
I swung my sword, and the flames enveloping it surged toward her, forming the shape of a rampaging dragon. However, she remained calm and waited for my attack to strike. Suddenly, her sword was shrouded in an orange light. It seemed she was enveloping her blade with her Unreality Field.
"Heaven Divide!"
The woman performed a vertical slash, and the Fire Dragon racing toward her was sliced into two pieces, vanishing in an instant.
Is that so? Not only is her pure swordsmanship excellent, but she also possesses an amazing Unreality Field. Even though she is five years younger than me, she already possesses the same foundational skills as I, a Grand Espada.
"In that case, are you capable of splitting this magic?" I said to her.
However, the woman did not respond and immediately lunged forward using her own Asphalt magic. My sword was once again enveloped in flames. But this time, my fire was different from before. There was a green light surrounding the edges of the flames on my sword.
"Blazing Tempest... Stormfire Dragon!"
My attack surged toward her again. This time, however, she did not split my attack with her sword; instead, she dodged to the side. It appeared she realized that in this attack, I had combined Fire Nature Mana with Air Nature Mana. An attack from the combination of these two Nature Manas would not be easy to cut, even if she used her Unreality Field.
However, I had predicted this. Before she could evade, I had already moved toward the location where she was likely to go so she would be hit by my magic.
"Taste this, Midnight Rose!"
I launched a combo attack at her. This time, she was unable to parry every strike, and my sword managed to slash several parts of her body. The woman then leaped backward to maintain her distance from me. I would not give her room to breathe and pursued her using Asphalt magic.
But as I drew near her, my speed suddenly slowed down—even though it should have increased drastically due to the Asphalt magic. The woman lunged forward, exploiting my slowed condition to launch a brutal combo attack that I could not entirely parry.
"Heaven Divide!"
She ended her combo with a powerful slash. I blocked it with my sword, but the force was so immense that it sent me flying back, crashing into several buildings.
"Ugh... What on earth was that?"
I tried to stand up; my body was covered in gashes from receiving her combo attack, and blood began to soak my frame.
"Why did the Asphalt magic make me slow down when it should have given me more speed?"
Could this be one of her abilities? I did not know, but currently, the woman was lunging toward me again with a gaze like a wild animal. I reactivated Asphalt magic to gain more insight into her ability. However, once I was close to her, my body slowed down again.
As she was about to attack, I deactivated the magic, and sure enough, my speed returned to normal.
"Heavenly Dance!"
Once again, she launched a swift combo attack. I tried to parry and avoid her strikes. However, without the speed buffs from Asphalt and Accel magic, I found it very difficult to do so, allowing her to inflict several additional gashes on my body.
I had no choice but to use it.
"Camara de Vaco!"
After using my secret magic, the woman suddenly clutched her neck with her left hand like someone being strangled. Exploiting her dire condition, I launched a swift counterattack. This time, even though I did not use magic buffs, she seemed to have difficulty parrying my attacks because she was struggling to breathe.
She leaped far back to distance herself from me, finally able to breathe fresh air. However, I would not let her be and approached her again. When we were close enough, she once again appeared to be choking. I gathered an enormous amount of Mana in my sword and launched a powerful slash at her.
"Hah! Taste this, Sunrise Explosion!"
She tried to block it, but my sword exploded, sending her flying until she crashed into several city buildings. The woman stood up, blood visible at her mouth from my previous attack.
"Spatial Magic..."
She seemed to mutter something; I had to be ready in case she intended to do something. She appeared to be gathering a significant amount of Mana in her sword. Was she planning to attack me with large-scale magic?
The woman then shockingly prepared to attack a pile of building debris beside her. Has she gone mad? I thought, watching her actions.
But suddenly, my body swapped places with exactly where that debris was located.
"Mezzaluna..."
"Unreality Field!"
BAMMMM!
Her attack cleanly slashed my stomach, sending my body flying and rolling across the ground.
"Cough! Cough! Damn it, what kind of magic is she actually using!?"
I coughed up blood. If I had been a moment later in activating my Unreality Field, her attack would have surely killed me instantly. However, I was given no time to analyze her strike because my opponent was already lunging toward me.
I reactivated the magic that had troubled her before. Once she was within the range of my magic, I saw her appearing to choke again. Taking advantage of this, I attempted to attack her with a very powerful diagonal slash. However, I was shocked when what I slashed was merely a stone and not her body.
Where did she go!?
"..."
However, the split stone disappeared and swapped places with the woman.
"Mezzaluna!"
She slashed me powerfully again, sending my body flying until I hit a statue, shattering it. The head of the statue fell, about to crush me. But suddenly, the object vanished and swapped places with the black-haired woman.
"Heaven Divide!"
Once again, she attacked me relentlessly with her strange magic. I could not fight back. If I continued to rely solely on my Unreality Field to defend, I would surely die in this fight.
I had no choice but to use it. Leaping far back, I tried to keep a distance from the range of her magic.
"I will use my Awakening power! Red Vel—"
I stopped the activation process of my Awakening mode. This was because someone had suddenly placed a hand on my shoulder, signaling me to stop the action I was about to take to defeat the woman.
"Count Raymond de Chatelon..."
The person who stopped me was a man in his 50s with white armor that gleamed in the sunlight. He was the most senior Grand Espada among the six, including myself.
"Why did you stop me, Raymond The White Knight?" I asked him.
"Danilo, do not be so reckless as to reveal your secret weapon to the enemy," the old man said. "Especially at the beginning of a war like this."
To be honest, I had sensed his presence in the city. However, it seemed he had remained idle because he knew I desperately wanted to achieve glory by defeating that woman.
"Then, are we going to fight her together? It would be embarrassing if it required two Grand Espadas to defeat one person! The world will think our group is weakening and start laughing at us as the Empire's strongest Knights!" I protested.
"Quite right; if two Grand Espadas are needed to defeat one person, it will tarnish our reputation," Count Raymond said, agreeing with me. "That is why you must leave this fight to me."
"What did you say!? I can still fight her; I can definitely defeat that woman!" My emotions peaked as those words left Count Raymond's mouth.
"From observing your fight just now, it is clear you are at a disadvantage against her unique abilities," Count Raymond said. "Leave this fight to me. If we do not defeat her soon, there is a chance the mission given to us by Marshal Salazar will fail, causing the Grand Espadas to suffer an even more humiliating result!"
Hearing those words, I clenched my fists as tightly as possible, disappointed in myself for not yet achieving glory in this war to restore the honor that had been damaged by that boy.
"DAMN IT!!!"
***
[Siena PoV]
Grand Espada Danilo has left...
He seems likely to assist the knights he leads, who are currently fighting my entire Squad that is protecting the Musketeers from the threat of sorcerers. Additionally, Count Raymond, who is now before me, appears to have brought knights into the city as well.
This is a very dire situation.
"You are very young, yet you possess amazing skills as a Knight," Count Raymond said, praising me as he unsheathed his sword. "You remind me of my niece, who possesses the most amazing swordsmanship talent in the history of the Empire."
Hoo~ Has the Empire already found a successor to Liana de Grantz? Until now, no one has been able to rival her in the art of swordsmanship in that country's history.
"Now, let us see the limits of your strength, Lady Siena."
The man then lunged toward me, and I prepared to face his attack.
"River Flows in You!"
He performed four slashes incredibly fast—in less than a second! I could only evade three of his attacks; the remaining strike managed to slash my arm.
"Singing in The Rain!"
Again, he launched his rapid combo attacks. I tried to retreat to maintain distance from him. Even though he did not use speed magic at all, his attacks were very difficult to predict.
Because of this, I could not apply a Debuff as I had with Grand Espada Danilo earlier. I will use Spatial Room on him this time.
After activating my magic, a domain that only I could see was created, enveloping the surrounding area. When my opponent entered the Domain, I attacked an object near me and swapped its position with my enemy.
Tang!
However, my opponent this time was able to react to my magic; it seemed that because he had observed my fight with Grand Espada Danilo earlier, this magic had become less effective.
"Quite a troublesome magic," Count Raymond said, smiling at me. "However, to defeat me, you cannot hold back your abilities."
He attacked me again with slashes and thrusts. The precision of his attacks was the most accurate I had ever faced. Furthermore, while I was occupied here, the knights brought by Count Raymond brought the battle back under the Empire's control. Although the Squad I built could match the Imperial Knights, it was impossible for the Cavalier Squad to defeat knights who outnumbered them two to one.
I have to do something.
Keeping my distance, I leaped high onto a building. Count Raymond looked ready to jump as well. However, I had already activated the Profound Codex I possessed.
"Blade of The Future!"
Suddenly, Count Raymond's leg bled as if it had been cut by a sword slash, causing him to fall to the ground. He looked confused by what had just occurred.
Unfortunately, my magic still missed its mark.
However, I did not waste time and headed to where the Squad members I led were fighting the Imperial Knights. Nevertheless, I realized that Count Raymond was still following me from behind. It seemed I would have to do "that," even though my Mana would be heavily drained.
"Rolling in The Deep!"
Turning my body around, I saw Count Raymond already prepared to perform his combo attack.
"Midnight Raven!"
We clashed blades, each launching our own combo attacks. I had to improvise my combos because I had to attack while simultaneously evading Count Raymond's strikes. After our exchange ended, our bodies were covered in gashes from each other's blades.
"You... what you used just now was unmistakable..." Count Raymond said with a look of utter shock. "What you did was the combo attack belonging to my Master—Liana de Grantz! Where could you have learned a combo that only she could master, Lady Siena!?"
Count Raymond appeared very curious about this. However, I could not tell him that all the combat experience I gained was the result of me dreaming about the life of the Empire's strongest Grand Espada.
I did not answer his question and fled again to quickly reach the place where my Squad was fighting. Upon arriving, I saw the members being cornered by the Imperial knights. Each of them was forced to fight two Knights simultaneously.
"Wait! Please answer my question!"
I ignored the question from Count Raymond, who followed behind me. After reaching the center of the battle, I took a deep breath and expanded the Domain of my Spatial Magic. At the very least, I had to expand my Domain as far as four kilometers so everyone could retreat safely.
After gathering sufficient Mana, I began to activate my magic.
"Spatial Magic—Massicio Enumbra!"
Upon activating my magic, all the Imperial knights fighting within the city suddenly vanished, swapped with stones located four kilometers away from the city.
"Huh? Where are they all!?"
"Why did those Imperial dogs suddenly disappear!?"
Everyone looked confused; the enemies they had been fighting for their lives suddenly vanished into thin air.
"Retreat... Everyone retreat and abandon this city!"
After shouting that, my body felt extremely weak. My vision began to blur because I had expended so much Mana to use that magic on such a large scale. However, if I had not done so, everyone here would have been slaughtered by the Imperial knights, whose numbers were too great for us to fight.
After abandoning Fortress City Regium and retreating into the Modena Forest, we finally received the battle statistics from the engagement. We lost approximately 7,000 troops who were guarding Fortress City Regium. Meanwhile, the Cavalier Squad I led lost 21 members, with dozens of others suffering minor or serious injuries.
This was a significant loss for the first battle of our war this time.
***
[Elena PoV]
When the battle had lasted for nearly ten hours, all the Knights who had been deployed suddenly appeared in a field not far from the main troop tent we had established.
When our soldiers returned from the Fortress City, they reported that the Venetian Republic forces had retreated and abandoned Fortress City Regium, which we had been contesting during this first stage of the operation.
As I and the others entered the city, ruins of destroyed buildings were seen scattered everywhere. Many corpses from both armies that had not yet been moved lay in the streets. A pungent stench of decay hit my nose, forcing me to keep it covered with my hand as I walked through the ruined city.
After the fight ended, we suffered approximately 6,000 casualties. However, what was very unfortunate was that we lost about 70 Knights and 50 sorcerers in this assault. This included three Animagus sorcerers, with only two remaining after the battle, as they were the focus of the Venetian Republic's attacks after they tore apart their defenses from within.
There are still many bloody battles like this to come in the near future; this is only the beginning of the war. And many more lives will fall because of this conflict that should never have happened.