Chapter 32 - 32 Battle at Solenoid
The first place Steve teleported to was a location where town residents were being attacked by soldiers of the Kingdom of Forest.
The residents had shut their doors to barricade themselves inside, but the Forest soldiers broke through the doors to enter, killing the men, raping the women, and plundering valuables. Their actions were not those of soldiers but of bandits themselves, yet this was the norm for combat in inhabited places like cities and villages.
Steve, having teleported directly behind a soldier who was just about to break a door and swarm into a house, used earth magic to create several conical stakes and impaled the soldiers. Blood flowed from the bodies of the soldiers pierced by the earth stakes, running down the spikes and staining the ground red.
Brian and Cody stepped over the pools of blood, entering the house to urge the residents to evacuate.
Intense anger overflowed on Steve's face after defeating the enemies in an instant. Seeing this, Bella became frightened by the Steve who seemed different from usual.
"Steve."
When she called out to him, Steve snapped back to his senses.
"Bella, what's wrong?"
"I was worried because you had such a terribly angry look on your face."
"Ah."
Pointed out by Bella, Steve realized he hadn't hidden his emotions. He then explained the reason to her.
"It's fine for soldiers to fight because it's their job, but I can't forgive attacks on non-combatants. Even if it were our own allies doing it, I would stop them with everything I have. I'll definitely make Margrave Bradle and the King of Forest pay for instigating this."
"Are you serious? Do you intend to invade the enemy's country in return?"
"Of course. Seeing this tragedy has made up my mind. I'll crush the Kingdom of Forest thoroughly so other countries don't do the same. But first, we need to wipe the enemy out from this Solenoid Town."
Saying so, Steve formed contracts with insects and rats, sharing their vision. He checked the scenery visible through their eyes, much like monitoring multiple surveillance camera feeds on a screen.
"Steve, can we move to the next one?"
"Yes, Father. But from here on, I'll increase the speed further; as soon as we defeat the enemies, I'll teleport to the next spot. That will save more lives than guiding residents to evacuate. Besides, there are still soldiers of Margrave Sowell's army continuing to resist in small units, so let's help them and have them handle the evacuation of the residents."
Repeating the process of teleporting and attacking with earth stakes, the elimination of Forest soldiers from one sector of the town was quickly completed. He gathered the surviving Sowell soldiers who had been resisting in that sector and constructed a simple defensive position.
When the earth ramparts were completed by Steve's magic, a stir arose among the onlookers.
The highest-ranking soldier among those gathered questioned Brian.
"Excuse me, but what is your affiliation?"
"Brian Archibalt. I have been granted the rank of Knight by His Majesty. We have rushed here to provide relief at the request of His Lordship the Margrave."
"My apologies, Your Lordship!"
Learning that Brian was a noble, the soldier saluted.
"No, let's put aside such formalities for now. We must immediately establish a defensive system and prepare for the enemy's attack."
"Understood. So, Your Lordship, with how much military force were you able to rush here?"
"Only the fifteen people here."
"Fifteen people...?"
A look of obvious disappointment appeared on the man's face. The enemy had attacked with roughly 5,000 men. About 500 of them had swarmed into the town. Their own soldiers had fallen atop the outer walls, and only a few remained inside the town. It was natural to think that adding fifteen people wouldn't change the outcome.
Cody spoke to the disappointed man.
"Don't be so let down. Our Wakasama is a mage. A top-notch one at that. He can create earth walls like this in an instant, and he can even use Body Enhancement Magic."
Saying so, Cody picked up a stone at his feet and threw it at an enemy soldier climbing the wall. The stone, traveling faster than a ball thrown by a professional baseball pitcher, struck the enemy soldier squarely in the face, snapping his neck backward as he fell from the wall.
"See? I'm nothing special. I can only do this because I was enhanced by Wakasama's magic."
"Body Enhancement Magic, huh. The enemy uses that too. That's how they climbed the walls in a flash and invaded this town. Plus, there were those who used Teleportation magic. Because of those guys, our defenses were easily taken down. On top of that, fireballs came flying. Even if one mage has come, I doubt this situation will be overturned."
Hearing that story, Steve approached with a frown.
"What other magic did you see?"
"Ah, this is our Wakasama."
"But he's still a child."
Steve spoke without hiding his displeasure to the surprised soldier.
"There are still many people who must be saved. I want you to tell me the information you know quickly."
"Ah, sorry. No, my apologies. What I just told you is all I know. There might be others, but since the wall was breached, I've been fighting inside the town and wasn't in a position to see the whole picture."
The soldier used polite language with Steve, the heir of a noble. If he were to speak casually, he could be punished for insolence. Though, of course, Steve or Brian would never do such a thing.
Since there was no additional information, Steve teleported to rescue survivors. Because Brian and the others remained at the defensive position, this time he teleported alone.
He repeated the cycle of teleporting, defeating enemies, and bringing survivors back to the defensive position. After exceeding ten trips, the enemy also noticed something was wrong. Benjamin Gardner, the commander of the assault unit that had broken into the town, realized that communication from a specific sector had ceased.
At a position established within the town, he spoke to the adjutant beside him about the anomaly.
"There's no contact from Halliday's unit."
"It's hard to imagine they were wiped out by the enemy. The Body Enhancement Magic cast by the mages should still be effective for another hour."
"True. It's thanks to that magic that we were able to cross the walls and enter so easily. If there were a unit among the enemy capable of wiping out our soldiers with enhanced physical abilities, we would have had a bit more trouble entering the town."
For the attack, they had breached the walls with soldiers whose physical abilities were improved by Body Enhancement Magic leading the way. Benjamin and all the soldiers currently inside the town still had the effects of that magic remaining. Furthermore, to cast magic on as many as 5,000 soldiers, all the users of Body Enhancement Magic in the Kingdom of Forest had been gathered. While magic hadn't been cast on the soldiers outside the town yet, there were enough mages to cast it on everyone if necessary.
"Perhaps they are busy plundering and have become negligent with reporting? If they find women, they might be prioritizing that."
"If so, that's a problem. I'll turn a blind eye to some things, but if they can't make the scheduled periodic reports, I'll need to bring them before a disciplinary committee later. However, my gut is telling me that's not it."
"Are you saying the enemy has a unit with combat power exceeding our army?"
"They likely have several Teleportation mages as well. It would be possible for them to use those mages to send in elites."
Benjamin's guess was mostly correct. Indeed, elites had been sent in. However, the only ones who could be called elites were Steve and Brian. The others were only able to fight here because of Steve's magic. While the Forest soldiers had doubled their physical abilities, those who came from the Archibalt Territory had been enhanced fivefold.
Even if the foundations differed, the difference in the multiplier was enough to compensate, so the defensive position had not been breached.
And at this timing, information about the suddenly appeared defensive position was reported to Benjamin. A soldier carrying the information ran to Benjamin.
"Commander Benjamin, the enemy has suddenly built a wall inside the town and is barricaded there. We climbed the wall to capture it, but everyone was killed in action by stone throwing."
"Everyone killed in action? They're enhanced and yet they can't dodge stones?"
Enhanced soldiers unable to dodge stones. And the information that they were killed rather than injured made Benjamin doubt his ears.
"There is someone throwing stones at a tremendous speed; when they hit, necks end up snapped."
"Is the enemy using Body Enhancement Magic too? And you're saying their degree of enhancement is higher than ours?"
"It appears so."
"As expected of Margrave Sowell, I suppose. I didn't catch any information about such a mage being there, but it seems they hid the information well. Contact the main camp and have them send mages. We'll increase the multiplier of the Body Enhancement Magic and attack that enemy base all at once."
Following Benjamin's instructions, a soldier tried to head toward the main camp outside the town, but that was not to be.
"I won't let you do that."
A black-haired boy suddenly appeared before Benjamin and the others and said so. Immediately, the soldier was skewered and breathed his last.
The soldiers present were frozen by the sight and were then restrained by chains made of earth.
"Issue orders to withdraw from the town immediately."
The black-haired boy, Steve, gave the command.
However, Benjamin had no intention of obeying.
"So you're the mage Sowell sent. You're just a child. There's no way I'd obey such an order. Even as we speak, my subordinates are continuing the suppression of the town. The suppression will be over soon. Even if you've restrained us, that won't change."
"I see. I intended to show mercy and not cause any more deaths, but if you say so, it can't be helped."
Steve didn't want to use unnecessary magical power since he was about to fight the enemy's main force, but because Benjamin refused to withdraw, he decided to repeat his teleports.
Then, tightening the earth magic restraints, he broke Benjamin's limbs.
"Gugyaaaaaah!"
"I won't kill you. You will live with a disabled body, and for as long as you live, you will reflect on today's massacre of non-combatants. That is the duty of a commander."
Steve vented his anger onto Benjamin with all his might. The other soldiers, still restrained, could only watch.
Leaving the screaming Benjamin behind, Steve immediately teleported to places where combat continued and defeated all the enemies. Then he returned to the defensive position.
"Father, I have eliminated all enemies within the town. There are a few survivors left at the base established by the unit that invaded the town, but I've neutralized them by restraining them with magic."
"Well done. However, there are still many enemy soldiers left outside, aren't there?"
"That is the main force led by Margrave Bradle himself."
A captain named Charlie Remington, the highest-ranking among the rescued soldiers, informed them. Hearing this, Steve sent out a hawk he had a contract with to check the state of the enemy camp from the sky.
"If we defeat Margrave Bradle, will the enemy flee?"
"Well, yes, but... Steve, surely you aren't planning to charge into the enemy camp?"
"Yes, Father. If I take the Margrave's head, this battle will end. No, I should say the battle in this location."
Steve intended to start a counteroffensive from here. His plan was to slay Margrave Bradle, then proceed with a counter-invasion into the Kingdom of Forest and bring down the enemy's Royal Capital.
However, Brian tried to stop Steve.
"You might have managed well inside the town, but there must be many mages outside too. You won't come out unscathed. Didn't you promise Lady Christina that everyone would return safely?"
"My magical power is still sufficient. Besides, I know the location of the enemy general, Margrave Bradle. I'll teleport there and settle it in one go. If I don't hurry, the enemy will realize their units in the town have been wiped out and start preparing for a general assault."
No matter what Brian said, Steve would not change his mind. Seeing that Brian couldn't persuade him, Bella tried to stop Steve.
"Steve, you can't. If you're going, take me with you."
"Bella, this is an order. I want you to protect the survivors here."
"I want to protect Steve!"
"I appreciate the sentiment, but I'm not confident I can protect you in the middle of the enemy camp. I told you, it's an order."
Being told it was an order, Bella had no choice but to obey.
Tears overflowed from Bella's eyes and ran down her cheeks.
Watching the exchange between the two, Abel stepped in.
"Can't be helped, I guess. I'll look after Bella, so Steve, make sure you come back safe. If you die or something, I'm going to the afterlife with Bella to punch you."
"Thanks, Abel. I'll apologize over there if that happens."
Abel meant that if Steve died, they would follow after him. Steve understood that and was grateful to Abel for stopping Bella.
"Then Father, in the unlikely event something happens, please take the survivors and escape the town."
"I'm praying there is no 'unlikely event.' I won't be able to face your mother. Or Lady Christina."
"I won't be so unfilial as to pass away before my parents."
Steve felt grateful to the people who worried for his well-being.
Then, he applied a tenfold Body Enhancement Magic to himself and teleported to the location where Margrave Bradle was.
Margrave Bradle was a man of arms. He was forty years old, but no physical decline was visible; rather, those around him thought he had grown even more than ten years ago. Having fought wars with the Cascade Kingdom for many years, he had visited the battlefield many times himself and had actually crossed swords with enemy soldiers.
Of course, as a great noble of the Kingdom of Forest, he always had users of support and recovery magic by his side on the battlefield to ensure no accidents occurred. However, even discounting that, he was an excellent warrior.
Such was Margrave Bradle, who was looking at the smoke rising from Solenoid Town while thinking about what to do next.
He was considering whether to head straight for Sowell Land or to strike the surrounding nobles.
Not just him, but all his aides were certain of victory in Solenoid Town.
Suddenly, a black-haired boy appeared right before Margrave Bradle's eyes. It was Steve.
"!!!"
Margrave Bradle's body reacted faster than he could think, and he leaped backward. Of course, since he had used Body Enhancement Magic without stinting on magical power, it was at a speed unthinkable for an ordinary person.
Steve knew the person who leaped away was Margrave Bradle from the information provided by the insects he had slipped into the Margrave's main camp. However, since distance had been put between them, he gave up on him for the moment and skewered the nearby aides with earth stakes.
"A mage!"
Margrave Bradle shouted and drew his sword at the same time. Without even a breath's pause, he closed the distance in one go and slashed at Steve.
That swift blade drew a silver serpent in the air. Margrave Bradle believed the sword would surely take off Steve's head, but the movement of the silver serpent stopped just before Steve.
Steve, who looked like a child no matter how one saw him, had caught the Margrave's sword with the sword he held.
"A child, a mage, and his swordsmanship is on par with mine?!"
Margrave Bradle did not hide his astonishment.
Only after that exchange did the others finally begin to move. The Margrave Bradle House Knights Order surrounded Steve, and the mages used Body Enhancement Magic on that knights order.
However, for Steve, who was using Body Enhancement Magic and perfectly replicating the movements of the Royal Guard Knights Order Captain via his Work Standard Manual, cutting down the knights before him was no different from cutting through tofu.
The sword Steve held sliced through armor made of steel without effort.
"Surround him and attack all at once!"
The Knight Captain shouted instructions. Immediately, attacks from the knights flew in from all four directions, but Steve teleported behind the Knight Captain and escaped the encirclement.
The Knight Captain hurriedly looked for Steve's destination since he had vanished from his sight, but he never imagined he would be directly behind him.
"Captain, behind you!"
One knight shouted, but the Captain could not turn around. With the Godspeed Sword, Steve cut the Knight Captain in half at the waist.
Seeing this, the Teleportation mage of the Kingdom of Forest hurriedly teleported Margrave Bradle back to the fort they had captured.
Having returned to the fort seized from Margrave Sowell, Margrave Bradle ordered the mage to prioritize retrieving the other mages.
"Bring back the other mages first. This fort has ten thousand troops in reserve. We will reorganize here and then resume the invasion."
"Understood."
Saying so, the mage returned to the outskirts of Solenoid Town via teleportation.
However, he never returned to the fort again. Steve, seeing him use Teleportation magic, was not about to let the mage escape and slaughtered him the instant he returned.
When the mage did not return even after thirty minutes, Margrave Bradle realized he had lost the mage. He easily imagined that the other mages had likely been defeated as well, and he racked his brain over how to recover from such a massive loss.