Chapter 50: The Battle for Melromarc, Part 2

The air hung heavy with anticipation.

Thousands of soldiers, a sea of steel and leather stretching toward the horizon, stood arrayed before the fortress that used to be Ivyred Territory. Their ranks were a painted picture full of colors, with the blue shirts of the foot soldiers, the polished silvery color of the knights' armor, and the deep green of the archers' uniform.

Standing in the middle of the formation, the siege weapons stood like looming giants. The counterweights of the massive trebuchets swayed around ominously, ready to hurl rocks the size of a man's head against the walls in front of them. Below them were the ballistae, whose arches were pulled to the limit with sharp iron bolts gleaming in the sun. And the magic cannons stood at the center of the formation, their barrels raised high, aiming toward the fortress, ready to unleash their devastating strikes to bring down those walls.

On the two sides of the army, the foot soldiers formed two phalanxes, with their shields locked firmly in front of them and their swords drawn. Behind them, the archers stood in ranks with their bows in their hands and arrows ready to fly. The knights stood at the back of the army, their lances raised like a forest of steel around the priests and priestesses of the Church. Their faces all shared an expression of determination and eagerness to fight.

The whole army stood there, glaring in the direction of their target.

An eerie screen of mist was draping on top of Ivyred Territory. Mist in this season was already something unusual; mist this thick was even stranger. It was impossible for the people outside to see what was going on within the town. And that atmosphere somehow made the air a hundred times tenser than normal.

It felt just like the town looming at the horizon over there was sending them a challenge. Come to us if you dare. We're waiting.

A soldier kneeled before the horse that was carrying Balamus on its back.

"Our scout team has returned, Your Excellency."

The Pope glanced at the soldier on the ground. "Report."

"They've been waiting for us," the soldier answered. "They have gathered up at the north gate of the town, where we're facing now. It's impossible to get close without being noticed; however, our trackers found out that there are about one thousand magical signatures that could be found on the walls above the north gate. It means all the enemy force was already gathered there."

"I see," Balamus nodded coldly. "What about the way in? Is there any considerable obstacle?"

"There is a rather wide and deep moat we need to cross before reaching the walls, Your Excellency," the soldier said. "It's going to be hard for our soldiers to break into the town if we don't disable the archers on the walls first. Fortunately, they didn't seem to have enough time to build up a stronger defense. If we focus our firepower on those walls, we might be able to break through. We're all ready to attack, Your Excellency."

"And the Third Division…"

"They've already departed, too, Your Excellency."

A malicious smile spread on the mad Pope's face. He raised the Replica in his hand to the sky, his voice boomed across the army.

"THIS IS THE TIME, MY CHILDREN! ARE YOU READY TO CRUSH THOSE IMPOSTERS AND HERETICS IN THE NAME OF GOD?"

The air rumbled with the cheers of the soldiers. With a smile of satisfaction, he pointed the Replica forward.

"THEN, ATTACK! BRING ME THE HEADS OF THOSE HERETICS!"

At his command, all ten trebuchets and twenty ballistae opened fire at the same time.

The battle for Melromarc had begun.

"They took the bait, Your Majesty. They're going to start the assault soon."

The defenders of Ivyred had gathered on the walls of the town. All of them already geared up and were ready for battle. Their faces shared the same grim determination.

The whole town was covered in an ominous screen of mist. This mist screen was the genius idea of Ecclesia; from the outside, people looking at it would only see the shape of a town looming at the horizon, but inside the mist, everyone would have a perfect vision of what was happening outside.

Leading the archers and mages was the Queen herself, and she looked completely different from how most people usually knew about her. Instead of the extravagant ballgown she usually wore, today she was dressing herself in a set of battle gear for mages, which consisted of a bodysuit and chainmail under a plain black minidress, with a white jacket and a black skirt with gold trim outside and a pair of combat boots. An outfit designed for battles, but still managed to show off the beauty of the royal woman in all her glory. With the Seven Star Staff in her hand, she looked just like a goddess of war ready to descend the battlefield.

She nodded at the Shadow who had just delivered the news to her. "Then it means we're going to proceed like we've planned."

She turned back to the battlefield in front of her. She tapped the Seven Star Staff on the stone surface of the wall, and everyone heard a weird rushing noise as the air around them pulsed lightly, as though the power of the wind had just been unleashed into the grounds.

"Listen up, everyone!" she yelled, her voice echoed around the field. "Even though the enemy force might look overwhelming, do not panic! Hold your position, keep your head calm and save your ammunition as much as you can; only fire when you see a sure kill! Do not be afraid; I swear in my name and my status as the Seven Star Staff Hero that I'm going to be here till the end to protect you all!"

As she said those words, ten burning missiles arced through the air from the direction of the enemy army like ten golden comets toward the town. The soldiers on the wall screamed and dove to the ground in reflex, but nothing happened. As they approached the town, the projectiles suddenly lost their momentum in midair and exploded on the ground one by one harmlessly.

Mirellia yelled. She didn't turn around, but everyone knew she was talking to them.

"WHAT DID I SAY? I'M GOING TO PROTECT YOU ALL UNTIL THE END!"

Balamus looked at the projectiles being fired at the town with a satisfied smile.

Those missiles that had just been shot out of the trebuchets weren't just normal rocks. They were stones that were enchanted to explode upon contact with a flat surface, designed for destroying reinforced walls. Just one touch and those hastily made walls would be blown to smithereens.

However, the smile on his face quickly turned into a frown.

The trebuchets had thrown missiles after missiles at the fortress in front of them. And he could see and hear a lot of explosions coming in the direction of those walls. However, for some reason… those walls were still standing firmly. The assault didn't seem to cause any damage.

After about half an hour firing without any result, he yelled. "Stop! Stop firing!"

"Your Excellency!" a bombardier said urgently. "The ballistic trajectory and everything were calculated very carefully, but for some reason our missiles couldn't reach the target! It's just like something stopped them in midair!"

Balamus clicked his tongue. It wasn't like he didn't know why this happened; that blasted woman must have done something to stop the barrage from reaching the walls. Considering how powerful she was, something like that was entirely possible.

But that didn't mean there's no way to get past this. He had prepared these weapons in advance for this situation, after all.

"Cannons ready!"

Unlike the trebuchets and ballistae, the magic cannons didn't use physical projectiles. They shot powerful, destructive beams of magical energy instead. And as such, whatever that accursed woman was using to deflect the projectiles would become useless.

Mirellia's eyes narrowed as she saw the movement in the enemy formation.

The cannons were mobilized. It meant they had started to lose their patience. And if what the Sword Hero had told her the other day was true… this would be the turning point of the battle.

"It's time for us to fight back," Mirellia said and glanced at the snipers of the ranged squad, Itsuki and Welt, as well as the ones manning the ballistae of the town. "Can I trust you all to hit the targets I told you to fire at?"

Itsuki smirked. He pulled the string on the Legendary Bow. "Who do you think you're talking to?"

Welt didn't say anything. Instead, he drew an arrow from the quiver at his feet. Shirou-sensei had just given him these arrows this morning. Unlike the normal arrows he usually used, these arrows were made of solid black steel and weighed about five times a normal arrow. They had a very distinct look that separated them from the normal arrows in his quiver; if anything, they looked more like swords with jagged, coiling blades rather than arrows. No normal bow would be able to handle something like that, but his enhanced Hydra Bow was designed specifically for them.

He had prepared himself for so long for this. And if the only thing he could do to help was to fire these arrows, then he's going to fire them.

"Trace, on."

Magical energy flooded his body, and he felt himself at the absolute peak of what he could be. He nocked the arrow onto the Hydra Bow and pulled the string back to the max; his eyes, enhanced with his skill Hawkeye and Reinforcement magecraft, focused firmly on the target he was aiming for. Next to him, Itsuki also mimicked his movement with an energy arrow of his own.

The Queen raised the Seven Star Staff into the air. "As the source of your power, I, Mirellia Q. Melromarc, command you, decipher the law of nature and bless these people with the strength of Heaven! All Dritte Aura V!"

The support magic swept through the whole town as the chant left her mouth. Even though the magic wasn't as powerful as that of the King, it was still incredible. The defenders suddenly felt themselves getting significantly stronger from the effect of the magic. The Queen wasn't chosen as the new Seven Star Staff Hero by Aultcray for no reason.

Then eight loud explosions from the direction of the enemies shook the air almost at the same time.

And the two archers let loose their arrows.

The eight magic cannons were pushed into position. Their barrels all pointed at the walls of the town, and the firing bulbs gleamed menacingly in the sunlight. Four soldiers sat on each side of each cannon, whose bodies were strapped into the seats and connected with the cannon barrels to provide magical energy for it.

The captain cannoneer raised his hand to the sky. "Charge the cannons!"

Immediately after the command, the bodies of the soldiers started glowing as magical energy was drained from them into the machine they were connected to. There was a clear expression of pain on their faces, but they all looked content, almost happy, at the chance to give their power to punish the heretics in the town over there. Soon, the cannons were filled with magical energy, ready to fire.

"Aim!"

The barrels of the cannons started shifting, until their firing bulbs all pointed directly at a single point on the walls. The firing bulbs started glowing with energy, brighter and brighter, until they became eight spheres of blazing light. With this much power, they're going to obliterate the walls in front of them in one shot.

Balamus looked at the cannons with a smile of satisfaction on his face. He brought down his hand in a decisive motion.

"Fire!"

The cannoneers all pulled the triggers at the same time.

Then the cannons started rumbling.

At that single moment, everything went upside down.

All the cannons exploded with eight deafening "BOOM"s. The cannoneers, as well as the soldiers charging the weapons, were obliterated in an instant; the last thing they could do was widen their eyes in shock and horror. The force of the explosions was so powerful the shockwaves violently swept the formation of the army apart, turning the unfortunate soldiers who were standing right in front of the siege machines into fine red mist and throwing many others into the air. The ballistae that were set up right behind the cannons were ripped apart as if a tornado had just swept through them; the trebuchets, bigger than the ballistae and were set up a few meters away from the cannons, weren't harmed that badly, but the shockwaves were powerful enough to shake their arms violently back and forth. The explosions were even powerful enough to reach the back of the formation, where the cavalry and the Church officials were standing; the warhorses, startled by the explosions, reared and neighed like crazy, throwing some of the less experienced knights off their backs.

Balamus' eyes widened at the sudden development.

"Wh-what?! What the hell is going on?!" he yelled in shock.

But before anyone could answer him, something… no, two of something had shot out from the direction of the town and flew toward them like two bolts of lightning. The first one, the wind arrow in the shape of an eagle, flew in a straight line and struck the middle trebuchet at the left front leg. It tore apart the leg as well as the leg behind it, making it lose balance and topple aside to the left, snapping the center axis in half in the process. The broken siege weapon fell on the ground, crushing the unfortunate soldiers standing under it. And the missile that had been loaded on the fallen trebuchet got flung into the air and hit the trebuchet right next to it, blowing it up with a loud explosion. The second arrow, a pitch-black arrow much bigger and heavier than a usually seen arrow with a strange coiling shape, drew an arc across the battlefield like a red bullet, leaving a trail of vapor behind it as it flew and struck the pile of missiles set at the base of the third trebuchet from the right. The whole pile blew up in a colossal explosion and obliterated the siege weapon as well as the ones next to it, and at the same time turned a rather considerable number of soldiers nearby into chunky salsa.

In the blink of an eye, the number of siege weapons the Church had available was reduced by two thirds.

For a short moment, there was nothing Balamus could do except hanging his mouth open in utter shock as he saw his army being bombarded by their own weapons.

The soldiers weren't doing any better. After such a devastating counterattack, the whole army was sent into utter disarray. They couldn't understand how the enemy could have done this; they were outnumbered one to ten, their equipment wasn't as good, and they're forced into defense like a big turtle. And yet…

A soldier kneeled before the Pope. "Your Excellency," he said in a trembling voice. "Maybe… maybe we should retreat a little bit… for the soldiers to—"

Balamus jumped off the horse he was riding. He looked at the soldier with a fatherly smile and brandished the Replica in the direction of the town. The weapon shifted in his hand into its bow form, and an arrow made of pure energy formed in his hand as he pulled the bowstring back.

"There's no need to worry, my soldiers," he said. "Those heretics might have sabotaged us with their cowardly tricks, but that's not everything we have. We're going to defeat them with the power God bestowed upon us!"

A roar of cheers erupted from the soldiers.

However, if anyone paid close attention to the Pope's face at the moment, they would see a burning rage behind those gleaming spectacles.

What happened to the cannons must be the work of that blasted Sword Hero. Since when he was summoned to this world, he had been getting in the Church's way… in his way, too many times to count. That blasted Hero had been ruining all his plans.

He's going to pay… with his life.

"CHARGE!" he roared, and as the light arrow left the Replica, the army surged forward.

The hair at the back of Itsuki's head all stood up as he felt the surge of energy coming from the direction of the army. Even though he didn't know much about magic, he still understood for a fact that if this hit, there's nothing good going to come out of it.

The reason? Because he realized what the crazy Pope was going to do. It was one of the bombardment skills the Legendary Bow in his hand had access to. There's no way this wall could withstand it if it got hit directly.

He raised the Legendary Bow, ready to fire a counter shot…

But before he could do anything, the Queen raised her hand and signaled for everyone else to back down.

"Trust me on this," she said.

Then she raised the Staff in her hand. A shield made of pure energy the size of a hand appeared in front of the walls as the arrow of light coming from the army's direction lashed out toward the town.

Itsuki's eyes widened. "No! Such a tiny shield won't be able to—"

And the Bow Hero was rendered completely speechless as the light arrow was stopped dead in midair by the tiny energy shield.

The energy projectile ground against the shield with a nasty crunching noise; how two objects made of pure light could make that kind of noise hitting each other was beyond Itsuki's understanding. The arrow struggled hard against the shield, making a disturbing noise in the air, but didn't seem to be able to get past it.

Farrie, standing right behind him, explained helpfully. "The more magical energy a shield spell has in an area of surface, the more powerful it will be. So if you make a shield as small as possible and place it so it's directly in the attack's way, it is going to be the strongest shield."

But it seemed even the Queen's power wasn't enough to completely stop the deadly attack. She gritted her teeth, and flipping her hand, she tilted the shield a little bit sideway. The arrow's trajectory was bent a little bit to the left, and it struck a point in the wall where there was no soldier, not being able to cause a lot of damage, thanks to the barrier magic Lady Ecclesia had placed on it the other day.

Two more light arrows came from the direction of the enemy army, and the Queen summoned two more energy shields to block them. And just like before, she let the arrows pass and strike the walls without causing any noticeable damage.

"I'm going to deal with those arrows!" she yelled back at her army. "Archers, you all focus on disabling those siege weapons! Do not let them maintain the range advantage! Mages, ready to unleash your magic when the enemies get close enough! Do not waste your energy; be sure that each shot is at least one kill!"

The command of the Queen echoed around the army. And the town rumbled as the defenders roared in answer while unleashing hell on the enemies below.

Like a tsunami, the Church's army rushed across the clearing, toward the direction of the town.

The ground rumbled as the cavalry thundered forward, the hooves of their horses pounded the surface like a thousand drums. Behind them, the foot soldiers, the backbone of the army, formed phalanxes with their shields raised high in front of them, their spears pointing forward, as they advanced at full speed toward the nearest wall in front of them.

They had one aim only: to reach the walls. The defenders were completely outnumbered; as soon as they reached the walls and put up the ladders to climb in, the outcome of the battle would be decided.

There was a moat around the town that was so wide and deep cavalry couldn't cross. The only way leading into the town was a narrow road in front of the gate.

The cavalry, in a wedge formation, rushed into the narrow road.

And the ground erupted under them.

The bamboo shoot mines buried in the soil blew up with vengeance as soon as the horses took their first steps on them. The unfortunate horses that stepped directly on top of the mines were blasted into the air together with their riders, and as they fell painfully to the ground, more and more mines got triggered as they landed on them. The battlefield was suddenly covered in an unholy cacophony of screams, neighs and explosions.

However, none of them seemed to have any intention of backing down. Even with all the damage they took, the army still charged forward like a mad herd of bulls. Those words the Pope had just said seemed to have rallied their spirit, and the morale of the soldiers had been boosted up tremendously. They rushed ahead with even more vigor, crossing the minefield, not even worrying about the ground exploding under their feet. They believed that with the holy blessing of the Church of the Three Heroes, with their holy mission to destroy the heretics and the Hero imposters, they were invincible.

And as such, there's nothing that could describe the shock and horror of the army when they found themselves being pushed back.

None of the Church's soldiers could expect that their enemies would be that stubborn and fierce as they defended the town with everything they had in their hands. The number of landmines in the ground didn't even seem to reduce even though the first wave of cavalry had crossed the field, because when the infantry followed the cavalry into the clearing, explosions still blew them into the air, at the same place where there used to be mines, even. And even if some soldiers managed to cross the field unharmed, they would immediately meet a torrent of arrows and magic spells coming from the walls in front of them. And even if they somehow managed to survive the assault and reach the walls to raise the ladders, the ones who were unfortunate enough to try to climb up would be bathed in boiling oil coming from those bastards above and perish in the most horrible way known to humans. Arrows from their archers and magic spells from their mages couldn't even reach the walls; they all seemed to get blocked by some kind of invisible barrier as soon as they got close.

The defenders of the town were just a ragtag band of people who happened to be together at the same time in the same place. Besides some Royal Knights the Queen had managed to gather, they were just normal peasants and adventurers without proper training as an army. They knew for a fact that they were being outnumbered and outmatched by the most powerful army of the kingdom. However, under the leadership of their Queen, the one who represented the will of the country's citizens, they were pushing back that army with only their sheer guts and firm belief.

Losing is out of the question. They need to hold their ground until all the plans come into place, and until their strongest warrior returns.

Welt fired another exploding arrow at the crowd below, then stopped for a moment to estimate the situation.

So far, things had been happening just like what Shirou-sensei had expected.

He glanced at the quiver at his feet. The arrows sensei gave him this morning were definitely something else. Usually, the power of a shot came from the archer and the bow, not the arrows, but these arrows were just like they had power of their own.

Welt himself had completely been taken aback when he fired the first black arrow. He had known from sensei's words that they were powerful, but he had never expected them to be that powerful. Each of those arrows was more than enough to devastate armies on their own. No wonder why Shirou-sensei went so far as to prepare his bow to fire them.

And so far, half of their plan had been succeeded. They had successfully goaded the enemy into moving toward them, into the battlefield the defenders had set up in advance, waiting for them.

However, his mission still hadn't finished. There's something else he still needed to do…

Welt stared at the quiver his sensei had just given him. It was filled with arrows, but not the normal arrows he was used to firing. They were the strangest arrows he had ever seen; they were much, much bigger than any other arrows, and they didn't even look like arrows at all, with some of which, the pitch-black ones, having a strange coiling shape. And that quiver was incredibly heavy compared to his usual one.

"Uh, sensei… are you sure about this?" he said hesitantly. "I mean, I know you've prepared my bow for these, but…"

"I know you can use them, Welt," EMIYA reassured him. "You've proven yourself capable of using them, and that's good enough for me. When you fire them, you need to focus on the target you're aiming at with everything of your mind while channeling your magical energy into the arrows. They are never going to miss."

Welt's eyes widened in awe. "Wow…"

"However, this one," continued EMIYA while pointing at another arrow in the quiver. This arrow looked different from the other arrows; it was blood red instead of pitch black, and was thinner and with a longer shaft. And it was smooth and looked more like a normal arrow than the others, if leaving out the fact that the head was longer and looked like a spear tip, "you have to pay attention. It is the weapon with the ability to penetrate Balamus' force field, but its power is not as overwhelming as the others. If you have the chance to fire it and fail to deliver the decisive blow on Balamus, they're going to know. There won't be another chance to use it again. So remember, only use this one when you are absolutely sure you can kill or at least fatally damage him, and there is someone nearby who can finish him off. Are we clear?"

Welt gulped. The arrow quiver in his hand suddenly felt ten times heavier. However, after a while, his face steeled up, and his hand unconsciously squeezed around the strap of the quiver.

"Clear, sensei," he answered with a firm voice full of grim confidence.

He took a deep breath and glanced at the quiver. He still had one more black arrow, and all the siege weapons of the enemy army had already been dealt with.

Might as well use it to know what he's going to face.

He drew the arrow from the bow and pumped all his remaining magical energy into it. As the arrow glowed in an eerily red light, he aimed it at the direction of the Pope.

Balamus was frustrated.

It had been three hours since the beginning of the assault. And somehow, the army of the Church couldn't find any way to pierce the defense of the town.

Those insurgents fought back with a vigor and stubbornness he had never expected they could possess. The assault had lasted for hours, and yet those walls were still standing firm, no matter how many shots had struck them. The soldiers couldn't find any way to get inside, either; right now, the field at the foot of the walls was littered with corpses, and yet, no soldier had managed to even reach the top of the walls.

That didn't make any sense. Those insurgents… they were just normal human beings. They were just a bunch of peasants who happened to have the support of the Heroes. How were they causing so much trouble to the most elite army of this whole land like this?!

And there's still no news from the Third Division. He had a bad feeling about this. Did something happen to them?

Suddenly a loud explosion came from the direction of the town, as if something had just broken the sound barrier. And Balamus' eyes widened when he saw what was flying toward him.

It was one of the arrows that had just destroyed the siege weapons earlier. However… this one was different. He didn't need any magical eye or sensing magic to see the amount of magical energy in that incoming red bullet. And if the fact that it was breaking the sound barrier flying at him didn't tell him it was dangerous, nothing else would.

He reacted without thinking. Turning the arrow in his bow toward the direction of the incoming attack, he fired it at the red bullet instead of the town. The two arrows met each other in midair, and to Balamus' horror, the red bullet tore through the energy arrow of the Replica after a brief moment of struggle, before striking directly where he was standing with a deafening explosion. The shockwave coming from it was strong enough to throw the soldiers standing nearby to the ground.

For a moment, the whole battle seemed to come to a complete standstill. The Church soldiers stared at where the Pope had been standing in horror. Had their leader… just got killed… like that?

But then, the smoke cleared, and Balamus emerged once again. Other than the fact that the energy barrier around him was crackling dangerously with electricity, he was unharmed and well. The soldiers cheered loudly as they saw their leader safe.

"Yeah!"

"Just as I thought! There's no way His Excellency could be taken down that easily!"

"That's right! His Excellency is invincible!"

If anyone paid close attention, however, they could see that Balamus' face was pale as a sheet.

Not from fear, but from pure rage.

That attack was, without doubt, a Hero-level attack. Sure, it couldn't do any harm to him thanks to his magical barrier, which should be able to understand attacks five times as strong as a Judgment blast, but that's definitely not something a normal human could bring out. That attack was, at LEAST, as strong as some high-level skills Balamus had access to that were stored in the Replica. Had it not been for the arrow he shot himself to somewhat reduce the strength of that arrow, it would have pulverized everything around him.

But… what the hell was that attack?

It wasn't any skill he had access to from the database of the Legendary Bow stored in the Replica. That attack was very special; if there were anything like that in the database, he should have known about it. And yet, there's no such thing that he could find.

Had the Bow Hero become that strong in such a short period of time?!

How was that even possible?! So far, he had proven to be a useless brat whose only aim was glory for himself. He hadn't even realized that the agent the Church installed in his party robbed him of his rewards for the quests he completed. During the last Wave, he was useless. He couldn't even withstand a blast of the boss monster. How could he become so strong all of a sudden? He must have used some kind of cheat, that's for sure.

Balamus' blood boiled in anger. Those goddamned cheaters… First the Sword, and now the Bow… How did they even do it?!

He had been manipulating the game for years. The Church of the Three Heroes, under his command, had been working to set up the stage for this moment when he's the one on the throne. How dare those cheaters do something like that, in the game that he should have been the one in control?!

At that moment, a Shadow landed in front of him. "Your Excellency!"

"Report!" barked Balamus. He had realized that this was the Shadow who he assigned to the Third Division. "Did the Third Division succeed? Did they gain control of the town?"

A choking silence suddenly filled the air. Then, the Shadow said in a heavy voice.

"They were… completely annihilated, Your Excellency."

The Third Infantry Division of the Church's army advanced in silence.

So far, there's nothing wrong with what the peasant sold them. What he had told them was entirely correct; they hadn't met any obstacles on the way here. They didn't even see any person; the route was completely secluded, just like what the man had said.

That was, until they reached the mountain range surrounding the town.

"Getting past this canyon and we're going to reach the town!" the farmer said while pointing at the gap between the two cliffs in front of them. "It would just be a matter of—EEK!"

That sound came out of his mouth as he felt the blade of Marx' sword nicking the skin of his neck.

"Do you think I'm an idiot?" the general snarled in a deathly cold voice.

"Wh-what?" the farmer stammered, his eyes were seemingly full of shock. "I-I don't understand… what you're—"

"I've been watching you since we departed from the camp. In the middle of a war, in the middle of the enemy camp… how can there be something that convenient? Since we departed, you keep glancing back and forth nonstop, as if you're waiting for something to happen… and now, you led us to a canyon. A canyon… the most suitable place for an ambush. Away from the main force. What… is your intention?"

The farmer's eyes darted around in panic.

"H-how dare you! His Holiness believes in me! I'm a loyal follower of the Church of the Three Heroes! I'm never going to betray His trust!"

"Oh really?" the captain's eyes narrowed. "Then why couldn't you look me in the eyes when you said those words? Why do your eyes keep dashing around like that? Like a liar?"

Silence.

Then suddenly the farmer's eyes stopped moving. He locked eyes with Marx, and a malicious smile appeared on his face.

"Realizing it now is too late."

Marx' eyes widened. "What-?!"

Then a whiz in the air alerted him of the incoming danger. He turned around and swung his sword, right on time to slash down the sword that was tearing the air apart toward him.

He didn't need to look to know who the person attacking him was.

On the blue fabric of the sky, the silhouette of the Sword Hero was hovering menacingly. And around him were thousands of swords, all of which were pointing their deadly blades at the army below.

"MOVE!" Marx roared and snapped the bridle of the horse he was riding, right before the rain of steel around the flying Sword Hero cascaded down their heads. The soldiers didn't even need their captain's command, though; as soon as they saw the Sword Hero in the air, they had already known what was going to happen to them if they didn't move for their lives. They knew they only needed to survive this onslaught, and they're going to get back the advantage; something like this wasn't what even the Sword Hero himself could use haphazardly, after all. The torrent of swords tore apart the back of their ranks, but the majority of the frontline was kept safe thanks to the quick reaction of the veteran captain.

Now what they needed was to turn the table around and fight back. The Sword Hero was alone; even as a Hero, there's no way he could handle an army of more than three thousand people, each of whom was a veteran fighter by themselves…

And the soldiers were taken aback with utter shock and fear when they realized that the Sword Hero wasn't where they had seen him before anymore.

"Wh-?!"

The word could only half leave the poor soldier's mouth before his body got split vertically in half.

The Sword Hero had leapt off the sword he had been riding as the army was still in panic. And every soldier's eyes widened in horror when they realized that the man wasn't running away; he was charging headfirst into the ranks of the division. The jagged swords in his hands, the ones that shaped like a pair of dragon wings, drew two arcs in the air and cut down two other soldiers in a single swing, so fast no one could even react at all.

And for the first time, the veteran soldiers of the Third Division, the ones who had been through a lot of battles in the past, felt what fear actually meant.

Up. Down. Left. Right. Anywhere the swords in the Sword Hero's hands swept across, soldiers fell. No one was able to stop him. No one was able to even slow him down. The red Hero was mauling them down, so easily and effortlessly, like a red tornado sweeping through the army. The soldiers tried to fight back, but none of their effort seemed to be able to do anything. None of their attacks could touch the man; everything seemed to phase through the Sword Hero without even scratching him.

And even worse… as he casually cut soldiers after soldiers down… there was absolutely no change in the Sword Hero's expression. He cut down everything on his way… so calmly and coldly… without even a hint of mercy or regret. He was calculating the best way to cut down the target in front of him… while the swords in his hands were drawing arcs in the air. Any slashes he threw… he threw it so accurately, so efficiently… as if… as if he was a machine designed only for killing.

Against this person… the advantage in number was absolutely nothing.

The Queen hadn't put people guarding this side of the town, simply because she never needed to. This man alone… was more than any army that had ever existed.

There's only one choice left…

"First, Second, Third, Fourth Regiments, stay and keep the Sword Hero at bay!" Marx yelled at the army at his back. "Everyone else, follow me!"

It's the riskiest thing to do… but there's nothing else they could do. Even the eight hundred soldiers of the four regiments wouldn't be able to stand against the might of the Sword Hero… but at least they might be able to hold him off for a while. Their mission wasn't to defeat him. What they needed to do was take the town to create the advantage for the army of the Church. Even if they lost four regiments for it, if they managed to break into the town, it's their victory.

Leaving the four regiments behind, the rest of the division, with more than two thousand soldiers, rushed into the canyon.

And they had only managed to cross half of the canyon before the cliffs on their sides exploded with vengeance. Rocks rained down the heads of the soldiers as the cliffs started to collapse, threatening to bury the whole army under them.

Marx' eyes widened. This was exactly what he was dreading, and now it's happening for real, right above him.

"RUN!" he yelled, but the soldiers didn't even need him to give the command. They had all started running for their lives as soon as they saw the threat of getting buried alive looming down their heads. But they knew there was no way all of them could escape the collapsing canyon; they threw each other behind them in their race for the exit as boulders rained down on their heads, and those who weren't fast and strong enough were left behind, buried under the fallen rock, all of them, just for agreeing to do this in the name of protecting the honor of the Church…

Since the beginning of this, they had completely played themselves into the hands of the Queen and the Heroes.

This was a horrible nightmare. They had thought they were the ones with the high ground, that they were going to crush the insurgents with the might of God in their hands… but in the end, they were the one who were going to be crushed. Figuratively and literally.

The soldiers stumbled out of the canyon exit as the thundering of the collapsing canyon rang in their ears. The prideful Third Division of Infantry, the elite force of Melromarc below only the Royal Knights, with three thousand veteran soldiers who had been through a lot of battles, had now been reduced to less than two hundred.

And standing in front of them… were a hundred Royal Knights, led by Motoyasu and Commander Leonhart. All of them were glaring at the remains of the Third Division with eyes full of grim determination, and their weapons were all unsheathed, pointing at their enemies.

"CHARGE!"

With a chorused roar, the Spear Hero and the Royal Knights rushed forward.

Time seemed to freeze as the dreadful news was absorbed by the mind of Balamus and of everyone standing in the clearing at that moment.

Then in the direction of the town, a bolt of pure light was shot into the air. It spread into thousands of arrows and rained down the head of the army below, and the battlefield was suddenly filled with screams of pain and terror.

And Balamus' fury exploded with the force of a bomb.

Mirellia's eyes widened as she felt the humongous surge of energy coming from where the Pope was standing. It was way, way bigger than any attacks that had been fired at the town so far, and she knew she wouldn't be able to stop it this time.

She turned around and yelled at the defenders behind her. "Everyone, get off the walls now! Retreat into the town and get ready!"

Then she raised the Seven Star Staff toward Balamus and chanted. "As the source of your power, I, Mirellia Q. Melromarc, command you, decipher the law of nature and create the strongest walls to protect my people! Dritte Multi Castle Walls V!"

The soldiers who were trying to break into the town at the feet of the walls were violently pushed away as nine layers of barriers made of pure energy, each of which was way, way stronger than anything Farrie or any other mages could raise, burst into existence in front of the town and took the full brunt of the humongous bolt of light shot from the Legendary Weapon Replica.

To everyone's horror, the first, second, third and fourth layers of the barricade were torn apart effortlessly as if they were made of rice paper. However, Mirellia didn't even show a hint of faltering. She turned her head around while pumping more of her magical energy into the spell and yelled. "What are you waiting for?! Get off the walls NOW!"

Wyndia immediately waved her staff at the warriors on the wall with a long sweeping movement. "Float!" she chanted, and the warriors immediately felt their bodies floating upward from the wall surface. She pulled everyone away from the walls as the fifth and sixth layers of the barrier created by the Queen started cracking under the force of the light arrow.

Mirellia gritted her teeth. She needed to hold on until everyone could move away safely, or else…!

The arrow pierced through the fifth, sixth and seventh layers.

"Everyone is evacuated, Your Majesty!"

Farrie's voice rose behind her from afar. And Mirellia let out the breath she was holding in relief. She cut off the magical energy supply for the barrier, and the arrow finally pierced through the last two layers before striking the town gate.

A colossal explosion shook the battlefield.

Motoyasu had to muster all his willpower to stop himself from puking his guts out when he arrived at the field.

It was an absolute massacre. The whole clearing was littered with corpses, thousands of corpses. The ground was painted red, and the air reeked of the odor of blood.

And standing in the middle of the field of horror, over the pile of dead bodies, was the Sword Hero. Blood was still dripping down the blades of Gaelion's Wrath in his hands, and his red coat was mottled with patches of darker red shades.

"You… killed all of them," the Spear Hero choked out in a nauseous voice as he approached his fellow Hero. EMIYA looked up and shook his head.

"Not all of them. Some decided to run away, so I let them. There's no need to kill more than necessary."

Motoyasu glanced at the corpses under his feet. Unlike the monsters they defeated in the Waves, these bodies didn't disappear into black dust. They just lay there motionlessly, their lifeless eyes stared into the sky even though they couldn't see anything anymore. Another wave of nausea surged up his throat, threatening to spew out of his mouth. He tried his best to swallow it down.

"Why do people even want this?" he said in a pained voice. "Just looking at something like this is terrible enough. Why do these people want something like this to happen?"

EMIYA shook his head. "I'm not sure if it's actually them who want this to happen."

Those words from the Sword Hero made Motoyasu grimace.

It's not like he didn't understand what they meant. It's possible that those people were just manipulated and used by the Church, and they were brought to the battlefield as meat shields for the ambition of that bastard Balamus. They probably didn't deserve to die in the first place… but…

As if reading Motoyasu's mind, the Sword Hero continued. "That's what war is, Motoyasu. Once you agree to fight in a war, you must accept that you are going to fight to kill. Your enemies chose to fight, and that means they've prepared themselves to kill you. Whether you fight and keep your life or lower your hand because you don't want to kill and get killed by your enemies is your choice."

Motoyasu bit his lip. "There isn't any other choice?"

EMIYA didn't say anything. A choking silence surrounded the two Heroes for a while. Then Motoyasu said.

"How did you get used to it, Shirou-san?"

EMIYA shook his head. "It's better if you never get used to it."

Suddenly an earth-shattering explosion shook the air. The two Heroes snapped their heads back toward the direction in horror. It came from the direction of the north gate of the town.

EMIYA looked at Motoyasu. "We need to go back there now. Everyone is needing us."

Motoyasu nodded grimly, and the two Heroes rushed back to the town at full speed.

"That will do."

Balamus pushed the helpful hand of the soldier away and stood up.

Behind him, people were lying on the ground, unconscious. That last attack was so powerful and costly it used up the magical energy of two thirds of his followers, and now those living batteries were useless.

But they had served their purpose. The gate leading into the town was now busted open, and the army had gotten a way in.

Soon, those insurgents would be crushed, just like what he wanted.

He picked up the Replica on the ground. "We're going in."

The soldiers looked at the unconscious priests and priestesses on the ground. "But Your Excellency… what about…?"

"They have done well what they need to do," said Balamus in a placating voice. A disturbingly pleasant smile could be seen on his face. "The Church is never going to forget what they did for us. But now… it's time for us to use the power God blessed us with to crush those insurgents."

Mirellia groaned as she pushed herself up from the debris.

That last attack from Balamus had blown the north gate apart. The force of the explosion had blasted the newly crowned Seven Star Staff Hero all the way into a building in the northern section of the town, and even though she wasn't injured very badly from the crash, it still hurt like a bitch.

"Are you all right, Your Majesty?" Farrie, the one who was kneeling next to her, said in concern. The priestess was the first one who arrived at the building after she saw her Queen crashing there. Mirellia smiled at the young priestess.

"I'm all right, Farrie. Is everyone else okay?"

Farrie nodded in confirmation. "Everyone is in position, Your Majesty."

Mirellia nodded. She stood up and walked toward the hole on the wall, where she had crashed through just a few minutes earlier. She could see that at the destroyed gate, soldiers of the Church were pouring into the town. The Seven Star Staff appeared in her hand in a burst of light, and she tapped the cane on the ground. A surge of energy pulsed across the town.

"Very well. We're going to turn this place into a living hell for any invaders who dare to come in here!"