Right at the edge of the canyon.

A dense crowd of people stood on the vast meadow.

No, to be precise, it wasn't just people.

Skeletons clattering their jawbones and bone dragons of enormous size, among other various types of undead, were also present.

I crouched at the top of the canyon, looking down at the scene.

"So damn many of them."

"Even if there are many, we have the upper hand in terms of terrain."

Cromwell, standing behind me, said with a laugh.

I looked at Cromwell.

"Professor Cromwell, have you ever experienced war?"

"Yes. Chased around that guy Robert a few times."

"Have you faced a war of this magnitude?"

"No. There's probably no one alive who has experienced a war of this scale."

The largest scale war within the Empire.

It was certain to be brutal.

From the start of the war until its end.

Blood of many would flow, and screams of agony would be heard.

"Is it possible to negotiate and not fight now?"

"If that were possible, we wouldn't have come this far."

I knew this fact.

Even after the Empire sent many proposals for negotiation, there was no answer or counterproposal; instead, the messenger's head was sent back.

I clenched my fist and stepped forward.

"I'll try to end this as quickly as possible."

There was only one way to solve all these problems.

Aryandor.

If that person died, we could end this war.

We could reduce the number of deaths.

Pooo

The resonant sound of a horn bellowed.

The massive rebel army moved.

"Rudy, I'm counting on you."

"Yes, leave it to me."

Cromwell then went down.

From the top of the canyon, I focused on just one person.

"Aryandor."

It was time to end this fight.

"Advance!!!"

The rebels, led by the undead, moved forward.

Daemon commanded them, looking up at the canyon.

The Royal troops were waiting above the canyon.

A strategy of entering where the enemy opens its mouth.

There would be many sacrifices, but if they could break through, victory was assured.

If they could break through... that is.

"Go!!!"

"Kaaaah!"

"Krkk...!!"

Thud thud thud!

With Daemon's shout, the undead charged.

Not just skeletons but also large undead shook the ground with their charge.

The Royal troops above the canyon swallowed their saliva, watching the undead's charge.

And they silently waited.

"Vice Commander."

"Not yet."

Astina was quietly observing the charge.

And when they reached the front of the canyon.

"Attack!!!!!!"

She shouted loudly.

At the same time, other soldiers also shouted.

"Attack!!!!"

"Attack!!!"

A barrage of arrows and spells swirled through the air.

"Argh!!"

"Fireball!"

"Fire Field!"

Arrows poured onto the bodies of the undead, and magic covered them.

The battlefield, quiet just moments ago, turned into a hell of fire.

But that didn't stop their advance.

The undead marched forward, even as the path ahead turned into a sea of flames.

Though their bodies burned and fell, they pressed on.

"Rrrr!"

Then, one undead charged forward.

This undead had incredibly large hands for its size.

"Raa!"

Using its large hands, the undead pushed the burning corpses aside, clearing a path.

With a way through, the undead started running forward again.

"Fire!"

But the Royal troops weren't just watching.

Some soldiers shot arrows at the undead that had broken through.

"Raaaghh!"

Despite being hit by a few small arrows relative to its size, the undead thrashed violently.

And then.

Boom!!!

An explosion occurred, turning the surroundings into chaos.

Daemon grimaced at the sight.

The arrows fired by the Royal troops were enchanted.

Such arrows, costly as they were, were not used carelessly. Yet, the Royal troops used them boldly from the start.

"Are they saying they won't let us get close at all?"

Daemon stretched his hand forward.

"Bone Wall."

A wall of bones rose from the side of the canyon.

The arrows and spells falling from above were blocked by this wall.

But only for a moment.

Astina, who was above the canyon, jumped down.

"Gravity."

Crash!

Using her magic, Astina pressed down on the wall.

The wall shattered, and fragments fell below.

"Raa!"

The walls, meant to block the attack, fell onto the undead, and the charging undead were pressed to the ground.

"Move all you want, but you have to get through our attacks first."

Astina, flying in the sky, said to Daemon.

"Bone Spear."

Without responding, Daemon immediately used magic.

Bone spears flew into the sky, aiming at Astina.

But they didn't reach her.

The spears flying swiftly towards Astina were all pushed away as they got near her.

"Did you think that would hit?"

Daemon quietly uttered after watching Astina.

"Ogre."

Astina looked puzzled by the meaningless word, but soon realized what it meant.

"Already using that guy?"

"If the Vice Commander has appeared, we should also provide a matching welcome."

Far away, a bone dragon flew high.

The creature took a deep breath.

"But, you're not the only ones with a dragon."

Then, from the direction of the canyon, another dragon soared into the sky.

Rudy had called forth a Red Dragon, named Yongyong.

Yongyong inhaled deeply and aimed its mouth towards the bone dragon.

And at the same time.

!

It unleashed its breath attack.

The poison breath from the bone dragon clashed with Yongyong's fire breath, creating a massive collision.

The clash generated a huge shockwave, and the attacks started to scatter around.

The Empire's side was hit by fire breath, while the rebels were hit by poison breath.

"Oh, it's coming...!"

As the soldiers were shocked by the giant attack, one person from each side of the Empire and rebels jumped out.

"Gravity Barrier."

"Royal Swordsmanship. Moonlight."

On the rebels' side, Venderwood used his sword energy to slice through the breath, and on the Empire's side, Cromwell stepped forward to block the attack.

Astina smiled upon seeing this.

"Using Royal Swordsmanship against the Royal troops..."

Daemon responded.

"Are the most hypocritical ones speaking?"

"Hypocritical? Do you really not know who the truly hypocritical ones are?"

"It's you. You nobles who are busy protecting your own positions while claiming to protect the people."

Astina was taken aback by Daemon's words.

"Us? When have we ever been busy protecting our positions? Ridiculous. If anything, you're the ones obsessed with blood."

After becoming the Vice Commander of the Royal troops, Astina had done everything possible to prevent this war.

She had even considered negotiating with the rebels, offering them land and the chance to become an independent region.

But, the rebels rejected everything.

And not just any rejection.

They mocked the Empire by sending back the heads of the messengers.

They were instigating war without proposing anything to the Empire.

"Ha...! Have you ever tried to listen to us? Not even pretending to consider it, you just wage war?"

That's when Astina realized something was off.

"Not listening...?"

"You who have never proposed negotiations or sent emissaries..."

"What?"

Astina's eyes widened.

'Something's wrong.'

"Could you possibly..."

"Royal Swordsmanship."

Then, a voice came from behind.

"Crescent Moon."

A massive sword strike flew towards Astina.

"Ugh...!"

Astina moved her body using telekinesis.

'Aryandor...'

Aryandor was there, where the sword strike came from.

Holding a sword, Aryandor stepped forward and spoke.

"Daemon. There's no time for chatter."

"Understood."

Daemon briefly bowed his head and moved his mana.

"Ugh..."

Astina frowned.

A massive mana began to move.

It wasn't a small spell they were trying to use.

With that amount of mana...

'I need to block it...'

Just as they were moving the mana.

Thump!

A sound of someone kicking off the ground echoed from above the canyon.

Despite the noisy battlefield, both Daemon and Astina looked up upon hearing the sound.

A man was leaping down from above the canyon.

It was Rudy Astria.

"Ugh..."

Seeing Rudy, Daemon immediately redirected his mana.

If Rudy Astria approached while he was casting a spell, he would surely be at a disadvantage.

"Bone Wall! Barrier!"

Daemon used magic to shield himself.

Then he prepared another spell.

'If he breaks through the shield...'

He intended to counterattack immediately with magic.

However.

"...?"

Rudy, coming down from the canyon, wasn't heading towards Daemon.

Ignoring Daemon, the soldiers around, and everyone else, Rudy dashed towards one person.

"Aryandor!!!!!"

"Ha..."

Aryandor made a disbelieving face as he saw Rudy charging towards him.

He was in the middle of the battlefield, surrounded by soldiers.

Rudy, paying no heed to such things, headed straight for Aryandor.

"Northern Swordsmanship."

Aryandor quietly held his sword and faced Rudy.

"Inhale..."

Rudy too inhaled deeply and filled his fist with mana.

"Bluebird."

Aryandor launched a blue sword energy forward, and Rudy extended his fist, exploding the mana forward.