Chapter 265 - Chapter 264: Hit-and-Run Tactics
The Wind Day of the fifth week of the 1st Month of Wind.
High above the Daburandoru Plains, at an altitude of approximately eight thousand meters.
"............No, I don't actually know how many meters it is."
He had no means to measure his altitude.
Even so, Mika waited at a height that looked down even upon the mountain ranges to the south of the Daburandoru Plains, the ranges that formed the border with the Trade Alliance.
The wind was quite strong.
It took some effort just to remain in one place.
Mika maintained his body temperature by wrapping himself in air currents created with [Skill: "Blast"].
Without it, his body heat would be stolen away in an instant.
Furthermore, the oxygen level should be about one-third of that on the ground.
Without [Skill: "Blast"], it would not be surprising if he lost consciousness due to lack of oxygen.
In fact, he could easily die.
The drop in atmospheric pressure also affected the human body.
For that reason, he had ascended to this altitude gradually, checking his condition several times along the way.
Well, to be honest, he didn't really need to go this high.
Mika looked down at the ground, observing the situation with [Skill: "Telescope"].
The Kingdom Army and the Imperial Army had already mostly completed their deployments.
The Kingdom Army, combined with the Domain Army, numbered slightly under four hundred thousand.
According to reports from scouts, the Imperial Army numbered slightly over three hundred thousand.
In terms of simple troop numbers, the Kingdom Army had the advantage.
However, the Kingdom Army would still lose.
Because they could not use [God's Wrath].
The battlefield was suffering because the King still refused to authorize the use of [God's Wrath], even at this critical juncture.
To break this situation, Mika had entered Marquis Leventein's domain several days ago and explained the outline of the strategy to both the Kingdom Army and the Domain Army.
For Mika, the idea of scattering the Imperial Army all by himself was, frankly, irritating.
If they relied on him from the start, it felt like saying, "You nobles aren't going to do anything!"
Without [God's Wrath], the battle would proceed exactly as the King envisioned, where numerical superiority dictated the outcome.
Therefore, he decided to let them decide the victor with numerical strength, just as the King wished.
............Well, he would consider what to do about the King later.
Mika confirmed the formation of the Imperial Army.
When he searched for his target, he found it immediately.
However, there might be more than one target.
He observed the Imperial Army carefully so as not to miss anything.
"............It doesn't look like there are any others. Well, the strategy itself was successful last time."
The plan was to use the Church's healers to deliver a blow of [God's Wrath] right at the start.
That strategy had succeeded, and the Kingdom Army had been pushed back in an instant.
Since the subsequent defeat was due to other factors, the plan was to use the parts that had worked well as they were.
"That said, 'I missed it' wouldn't be an acceptable excuse. I should search thoroughly."
If he overlooked them, tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of casualties would result.
In the previous battle, both countries' armies had formed square formations, clashing with three divisions each.
Well, the left wing had been crushed in a blitz, resulting in a structure of the Kingdom's second division versus the Empire's third division.
However, this time, due to the large number of troops, they were not neatly divided into three divisions.
With no significant hills, both armies were simply deployed widely in horizontal lines.
The Kingdom Army was thick in the center, while the Imperial Army was thick on the right wing.
The Kingdom Army, with its superior numbers, likely desired a head-on collision.
The Imperial Army, on the other hand, seemed to plan to break through the Kingdom Army from the side using the breakthrough power of their right wing.
And Mika's target, the Church's healers, were likely positioned between the center and the right wing.
They probably intended to strike the Kingdom Army's center with [God's Wrath] and cause a total collapse quickly.
Striking the Kingdom's strongest point with maximum firepower.
If it hit, they could definitely crush them, so this was a logical strategy.
He could see units of mages as well, deployed widely in various places.
These were likely units intended to be used as artillery as needed, rather than for [God's Wrath].
"......Setting aside troop numbers, the Empire seems superior in both strategy and tactics."
Was it somewhat better than the Kingdom, at least because there was no idiot King ordering them to fight after confiscating their weapons?
Well, they had probably been watching for an opportunity for many years, so they would likely fight freely.
As he thought such things, a signal came from around the Kingdom Army's main camp.
They used a large, polished iron plate to reflect sunlight and send a signal to the sky.
It would be invisible to the naked eye, but with [Skill: "Telescope"], the message came through clearly.
"Well then, shall we go?"
Mika licked his lips and glared at the Imperial Army.
Then, he cut off the [Skill: "Blast"] maintaining his altitude and the [Skill: "Low Gravity"], shifting into a free fall.
Free falling from an altitude of over eight thousand meters.
His speed increased rapidly, and his altitude dropped visibly.
Mika curled up, spinning round and round, before extending his limbs.
Air resistance increased sharply, stabilizing his posture.
Then, he slowly lowered his head, extending his body in an attention stance.
Air resistance decreased at once, and Mika accelerated, falling straight toward his target.
High Altitude Low Opening.
There was a descent method known as HALO jump.
One would free fall all the way down to an altitude of about six hundred meters above the ground.
Apparently, falling from over eight thousand meters to six hundred meters took only about two minutes.
If the timing to open the parachute was delayed even slightly, one would not decelerate in time and would be smashed into the ground.
Mika was attempting such a dangerous descent method without a parachute.
In other words, it was nothing more than suicide by jumping.
Even with a parachute, delaying the opening timing could cost one's life.
Doing it with [Skill: "Blast"] instead of a parachute meant he could rightly be called a fool.
While falling headfirst, Mika glared at the ground to confirm his target.
"Ababababababababababababababababababababa!?"
As his speed increased, air resistance rose.
The [Skill: "Blast"] Mika had wrapped around himself for warmth seemed to lose to the air resistance, scattering in all directions.
Air dozens of degrees below freezing struck his face directly.
No, it wasn't quite a direct hit.
Thanks to the effect of his bulky bracers, rapid atmospheric movement around Mika's body was restricted.
Thanks to the [Skill: "Blast"] he continuously created, he managed to avoid the situation of inhaling sub-zero air.
Still, the rushing air made the skin on his face ripple, and forced its way into his mouth, prying open his tightly closed lips.
"Ughghghgh......!"
He concentrated the mana gathered by [Skill: "Absorb Wing"], maintaining the [Skill: "Blast"] so it wouldn't lose to the air resistance.
"Gh......gzhui......!"
Blinking frequently, he barely kept his eyes slightly open to keep his target in sight.
He extended his limbs to increase air resistance and adjust his position.
Then, he extended his body again and fell in a straight line toward the Imperial Army.
In battles on this continent, rituals such as the general stepping forward to announce their name were not performed.
Apparently, this had been done in ancient times, but it had fallen out of use during the muddy Fifty-Year War.
When battle preparations were complete, a horn was blown to inform the entire army of the start of war.
If the enemy prepared first and sounded their horn, this side would also sound their horn and order an advance.
That was how battles apparently began.
In this case, the agreement was to send a signal to Mika when the Kingdom Army was ready, or if the Imperial horn was heard.
And until Mika gave his signal, the Kingdom Army was to stand by.
If they just charged forward, they would be unilaterally destroyed once they entered the range of [God's Wrath].
Therefore, the current situation should be that the Kingdom Army was not moving, and only the Imperial Army was advancing.
Mika desperately maintained the [Skill: "Blast"], somehow continuing his descent safely.
Even without using [Skill: "Telescope"], the situation on the ground had become quite clear.
Was it about time to start decelerating?
More importantly, how does one measure six hundred meters from the ground?
.................................................
.........................
"Who caaaaaaaaareeeeeeeeees!!!"
With a roar, Mika went full throttle with [Skill: "Blast"], attempting to decelerate.
He felt a strong jolt, but he didn't feel much sense of deceleration.
Mika extended his limbs, increasing air resistance.
Even so, he continued to fall with tremendous force.
The ground approached.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey, heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey!?"
Brakes, brakes!?
Of course, there were no such things.
Mika desperately poured mana into [Skill: "Blast"], decelerating with reverse thrust.
Thus, he managed to decelerate sufficiently.
Relieved, Mika pointed his feet downward and made final position adjustments.
The predicted landing point was right in the middle of the group of Church healers.
He cut off the [Skill: "Blast"] used for reverse thrust and allocated mana to [Physical Enhancement].
He didn't know if it was hundreds or thousands of times enhancement!
Zudooooooooooooooooooooon!!!
Mika fell like a meteor, raising earth tremors and dust clouds.
Without missing his aim, he landed precisely in the center of the healers who were in the midst of preparing to manifest [God's Wrath].
"Gwah!?"
"Uwa!?"
"W-what is happening!?"
Blown away by the sudden roar and impact, the healers raised voices of shock.
"Igigigigi......!"
Mika desperately endured the tremendous shock transmitting from his feet through his entire body.
Enduring the pain, Mika spread his arms wide.
"[Skill: "Laser Cannon"]!!!"
Then, he spun around three times on the spot.
While firing lasers from both hands.
"Gyaaaaaaaah!?"
"Gefu!?"
The bodies of the healers were severed by the lasers fired from Mika's hands.
Limbs and heads flew, and even torsos were bisected, as the healers raised death throes.
The three to four hundred healers who had seemed to be there from above were annihilated in an instant.
Incidentally, the guards of the Temple Knights surrounding them were also caught in the collateral damage.
Then, Mika fled at full speed.
He jumped straight up with all his might and ascended with [Skill: "Blast"] at full power.
Bobobon! Booooon!
Dull sounds came from the ground.
Several times in succession, shockwaves arrived with a thud.
As Nestileo, the person in charge of the [God's Wrath] research facility, had said, the [God's Wrath] whose manifestation had been interrupted caused a mana burst.
Mika stopped ascending and checked the ground.
The group of healers had been blown away without a trace, and the formations of soldiers and others in the vicinity had also been partially blown away.
With a sudden explosion occurring within their own ranks, the Imperial Army became unsettled.
Mika used the [God's Miracle] of [Signal Flare], which he had learned in class this year, to send the signal to advance to the Kingdom Army.
Confirming the [Signal Flare], the Kingdom Army began to move.
If there were other units likely to use [God's Wrath], he was supposed to crush them first before sending the [Signal Flare].
"Haa......, work is done."
Mika used [Heal] to refresh his body.
Then, he headed toward the Kingdom Army's formation from the sky.
"Well, naturally it would turn out this way."
He had watched the course of the battle from the Kingdom Army's side, and the Kingdom Army had maintained the advantage throughout.
The Imperial Army had intended to deliver [God's Wrath] early in the start, but their plan had failed.
Perhaps they had not been informed of the risk of [God's Wrath] bursting, and the Imperial Army remained unsettled and could not recover.
It did not result in an immediate total collapse, but their persistence lacked strength, and they were pushed back by the high-morale Kingdom Army.
Currently, the Kingdom Army had begun pursuing the Imperial Army, which had started to rout.
"A decisive victory, huh............ Whether that is good or bad."
He just hoped the idiot King wouldn't start saying things like, "See, we can fight without [God's Wrath]."
Well, dealing with that would be the job of the Prime Minister and others.
He hoped they would work hard.
Mika scanned the battlefield and decided to go treat the wounded.
This country's army did not have anything like so-called medics.
Individuals sometimes brought and used recovery potions, but there were no field hospitals.
Healers were dispatched from the Church to treat the wounded, but when their mana ran out, that was the end of it.
They would use mana recovery potions to some extent to cast [Heal], but this was solely done voluntarily by the Church.
Even if one managed to reach the rear on their own to receive [Heal], it was often already too late.
Many mages could use [Heal], but the mage units basically did not want to use [Heal] much.
What if the enemy attacked again after they exhausted their mana on [Heal]?
Considering such things, the mage units tended to conserve their mana.
(......How stupid.)
Soldiers were, needless to say, citizens.
It took a long time and effort to raise them.
They did not seem to think much about how important it was to provide proper treatment and return them to the front lines.
Despite the fact that the main force on the battlefield was neither mages nor knights, but ordinary soldiers.
The idea that there were plenty of commoners seemed to shine through from aspects like this.
Mika descended next to a soldier who was covered in mud, struggling on the ground.
"Huu......, Huu......, Kuu......!"
Perhaps the tendon in his leg had been cut, as the soldier could not stand.
Gritting his teeth and shedding tears, he was trying to crawl back to his own lines.
To survive.
Mika cast [Heal] on that soldier, then immediately took off to search for the next wounded person.
The soldier, with a dazed expression, stared intently in the direction where the Apostle had flown away.
Flying around the battlefield, casting [Heal].
Although the battle had been decided by before noon, the number of soldiers left behind on the battlefield reached into the thousands.
"Kingdom Army personnel, please call out! I'm coming to cast [Heal]!"
Mika called out while also using [Skill: "Big Ear"], searching for the wounded so as not to miss even faint voices.
He had Fee cooperate as well, continuing to search the dark battlefield like a searchlight even late into the night.
Usually, when the battle was decided, they would pursue the enemy.
Once that was done, the soldiers and knights would simply withdraw, but some remained on the battlefield to help search for the wounded.
When they found Kingdom Army soldiers, they would call out to summon Mika.
Thus, to save as many people as possible, he continued to fly and call out over the dark plains indefinitely.
■■■■■■
The Earth Day of the fifth week of the 1st Month of Wind.
Mika, who had arrived at Rish Village in the early morning, went to the house where Kistil and Nerisfeene lived to borrow a bed.
Though surprised by Mika, who had suddenly arrived covered in mud, the two welcomed him warmly.
He borrowed the bath as well, entered the bed he had previously moved there, and rested until noon.
(......Next time, I have to return to my room............ No...... maybe I should buy one.......)
Thinking such things, he fell asleep.
When he woke up, Kistil and Nerisfeene were sleeping on either side of Mika.
(Why......?)
Mika tilted his head.
Sleeping with the three of them was something he was used to, given previous occurrences.
However, it was rare for the two of them to be sleeping at this hour.
In fact, both of them had been awake when Mika arrived in the morning.......
Was it a siesta?
(More importantly......, they're clinging so close, it's impossible to wake up without disturbing them.)
He didn't want to disturb their nap, but he couldn't move.
"Um......, Nerisfeene. Wake up............ Actually, let go."
"Munya munya......, Mika-sama......."
He called out tentatively, but Nerisfeene was sleeping comfortably.
Mika gave up on waking Nerisfeene for now and called out to Kistil.
"Kistil, sorry. I want to get up."
"Fufuu......, no...... you can't, Mika-kun......."
He didn't quite understand, but for some reason, he received a rejection.
"........................."
As Mika squinted and pondered, Fee floated over, fuyo fuyo~......
There was only one thing to do, right?
"Fee, sorry, but I'm counting on you. Do it."
When Mika said this, he closed his eyes tightly.
At that moment, Fee, correctly understanding Mika's intent, emitted an intense light right before his eyes, piercing through his eyelids.
"Kyaa!?"
"Gueh!?"
Startled by the sudden intense light, Kistil and Nerisfeene clung to Mika with all their might.
Pulled from both sides, Mika was consequently squeezed.
"W-what!? What happened!?"
"What is this light!?"
"You two, let go......!"
Unable to understand the situation, Mika somehow managed to squeeze out words to the two who were still clinging to him.
Fee retracted the intense light and, as if claiming a reward, took a large amount of mana.
Well, that was fine.
"Ah! Mika-kun! S-sorry!"
"Mika-sama!? I-I apologize!"
"Ugh...... cough......!"
Released from Kistil and Nerisfeene, Mika took a deep breath.
"Sorry, you two. I want to get up soon."
"Ah, right."
"Yes, let's get up soon."
When Mika said he was getting up, the two also said they would get up.
"You two can still rest, you know?"
"No, we were just about to get up anyway."
"Yes, that's right."
Despite that, he felt like they had been sleeping soundly.......
Mika looked at the two, who were briskly making the bed, with a damp gaze.
(Well, whatever.)
Loosening his slightly tired body, Mika headed for the dining room.
"Did the Kingdom Army win?"
While eating the lunch the two had prepared, he told them the results of yesterday's battle.
"It's good that the Kingdom Army won, but the most important thing is that Mika-kun is safe. Thank you for your hard work, Mika-kun. I'm glad you're safe."
"Yes. That is the most important thing."
News of the Empire's second invasion had naturally reached Rish Village as well.
The two had been anxious, fearing that Mika would go to the battlefield again.
"I don't want to go to the battlefield either, but the King is an idiot when it comes to war. If he would just abdicate quickly, things might improve."
The Crown Prince was still thinking seriously about the war, after all.
"............Abdicate?"
"That means......."
At Mika's complaint, Kistil and Nerisfeene looked at each other.
Criticizing the King was a crime in this country.
Well, it wasn't strictly enforced to the point of immediate arrest, but depending on the time and circumstances, being scolded might not be the end of it.
"Well, never mind that. If I tell the Village Head, he will inform everyone. For now, just tell them that we managed to stop the Imperial Army again, so they can rest easy."
"O-okay. I'll tell them."
"I will inform Sister Radi as well. She was very worried."
Talking like this, the three of them ate lunch.
A dining scene that had been a matter of course until just four months ago.
Eating the homemade meals prepared by the two after a long time, Mika felt a slight sadness about it.