Laurence advanced through the rubble.
His objective was in the southeastern sector: a house that contained one of the area spells weakening his troops.
Several Denisse soldiers attempted to stop him.
They never stood a chance.
Laurence's sword pierced the first.
The second fell before he could even raise his weapon.
Then someone stepped into his path.
"Stop!"
It was Victor Denisse, commander of the defense platoon.
A blue aura enveloped his body.
"Seventh-Rank Spell!"
Wind gathered around his sword before being unleashed in a sweeping slash.
Laurence dodged.
The gust struck a Douglas knight behind him.
The man collapsed.
Laurence stopped.
He looked at the fallen soldier.
Then his eyes returned to Victor.
"You bastard."
Their swords clashed.
CLANG!
Victor attacked again.
Laurence blocked.
A third strike.
Then another.
Cracks began to spread across Victor's sword.
Laurence concentrated dark mana into his blade.
CRACK!
The enemy sword shattered.
His next slash cut through Victor's arm.
The commander fell to his knees.
Laurence did not stop.
A moment later, his sword descended.
Victor fell dead.
Laurence wiped the blood from his blade with a sharp motion and continued forward.
The knights struggling to keep up with him could barely match his pace.
Finally, he reached the house.
"Here it is."
He raised his sword.
A slash of dark mana tore through the building.
BOOOOM!
The house collapsed.
Beneath the rubble, the magic circle was revealed.
Three arcane stones glowed at its center.
Laurence destroyed them one after another.
The spell vanished.
Throughout the city, the Douglas soldiers felt the pressure weighing down their bodies disappear.
Their mana began flowing normally again.
Laurence raised his gaze.
"Now we can fight."
All around him, hundreds of Douglas knights advanced through the streets.
The Denisse resistance began to crumble.
The real slaughter had just begun.
High above the battlefield, a hawk descended toward the camp.
Maite dismounted and hurried into the command tent.
"Duchess. All three area spells have been destroyed. The battle is turning in our favor."
Sofia set down her cup of tea.
"Good."
Then her expression changed.
Her connection to the magical beasts had just transmitted something to her.
"Aleph."
"Yes?"
"Prepare the reserve troops."
Aleph frowned.
"What happened?"
Sofia stepped out of the tent and looked toward the horizon.
The ground began to tremble.
"A stampede."
A roar echoed across the battlefield.
Then another.
Hundreds of creatures appeared among the hills.
Wolves, deer, boars, magical beasts...
Carnivores and herbivores advanced together, ignoring their natural instincts.
Aleph gritted his teeth.
"They're being controlled."
Sofia nodded.
"Demons can subjugate beasts. If we don't find whoever is controlling them, they'll keep coming."
She looked toward her riders.
"I'll find them."
Aleph stared at her.
"And the defense?"
"You'll handle it."
Sofia tightened Thunder's harness as she watched the stampede rush toward the camp.
Hundreds of magical beasts charged forward like a black wave.
But Sofia wasn't looking at the horde.
She was looking beyond it.
The real enemies were hiding behind it.
"Don't let a single beast reach the camp."
Aleph nodded.
"Understood."
Sofia mounted Thunder.
Behind her, the five hundred Douglas riders began forming ranks.
They weren't ordinary soldiers.
They were the most powerful magical beast unit in the duchy.
And they had been given a simple order:
Stop what a conventional army could not.
Sofia raised her sword.
"Riders!"
The beasts roared.
Thunder slammed his claws into the ground, releasing small electrical discharges.
Larryet, the Epsilon-Rank magical lion, bared his fangs and advanced alongside him.
"With me!"
The Douglas formation charged.
The stampede collided with them.
The impact shook the earth.
But the riders held their ground.
Sofia had strengthened their beasts with her Omega magic.
Thunder's body glowed with electricity.
His strength and speed far surpassed those of an ordinary beast.
A group of creatures attempted to surround them.
Thunder vanished in a flash of blue.
When he reappeared, several beasts had already fallen.
Larryet tore through the enemy line with sheer physical strength.
Every swipe of his claws shattered bones and magical barriers.
The Douglas riders kept pace.
Fire against fire.
Wind against wind.
Lightning against lightning.
The first enemy line began to disappear.
But Sofia wasn't trying to destroy the stampede.
She was searching for the real enemy.
Larryet raised his head.
His senses detected something.
Twenty-six presences.
Demons.
Hidden.
Waiting.
"You found them."
Sofia looked ahead.
Then five colossal beasts emerged from the horde.
Enormous creatures twisted by demonic energy.
A horned monster charged directly at them.
Thunder accelerated.
Sofia raised her spear.
A bolt of lightning descended upon the creature.
The beast fell to its knees.
Before it could rise, Larryet leaped onto it.
His claws tore through its hardened hide.
The other monsters advanced.
The Douglas riders intercepted them.
But even they struggled.
The strength of these creatures was different.
Every blow could bring down a magical beast.
Every mistake meant death.
Then the sky darkened.
"Insolent humans."
A demon's voice thundered across the battlefield.
The riders looked up.
Several demons hovered behind the stampede.
Dark mana began gathering above them.
Sofia immediately understood.
"Spread out!"
The riders tried to separate.
But it was too late.
A rain of meteors fell from the sky.
The impact shattered their formation.
Beasts and soldiers were sent flying.
Thunder took part of the blast and dropped to one knee.
Sofia felt the pain through their bond.
The connection nearly broke.
"Thunder..."
The beast forced itself back to its feet.
But one of its legs was injured.
Sofia gritted her teeth.
The demons smiled.
As far as they were concerned, the battle was already decided.
They were wrong.
"Don't give them time."
Sofia charged.
Thunder ignored the pain and surged forward.
Her spear shot ahead.
It pierced the chest of one of the demons.
The creature stared at the wound in disbelief.
"Human... we are immor—"
Thunder unleashed the lightning.
The bolt was drawn directly toward the tip of the spear, as if the weapon had turned the sky itself into a conduit. The energy condensed within the spear for a brief instant...
Then exploded forward.
Sofia smiled.
"Not every attack requires brute force."
The explosion illuminated the battlefield.
When the light faded, only ashes remained.
The other demons stopped smiling.
For the first time, they understood.
That human wasn't fighting alone.
Her beast.
Her riders.
Her magic.
Everything formed a single weapon.
The counterattack came immediately.
Two Demon Counts descended upon her.
A spell struck Thunder.
BOOM!
The explosion sent them flying several meters.
Sofia crashed to the ground.
She tried to stand.
She couldn't immediately.
Thunder was injured.
The two demons approached them.
"An interesting creature."
"But even the finest beasts die."
Then a shadow appeared in front of Sofia.
Larryet.
The lion struck the first demon with such force that it was sent crashing into the ground.
The second demon recoiled in surprise.
Sofia seized the opportunity.
She activated her Pack ability.
"Now."
The allied mages reacted.
A torrent of water enveloped the demon, restricting its movements.
Thunder rose once more.
Electricity began coursing through his body.
The bond between a beastmaster and her beast had been forged into a single force.
Lightning tore across the battlefield and struck the demon head-on.
An explosion of electricity engulfed its body.
The creature barely had time to release one final roar before vanishing amid blue flames and a shower of sparks.
When the light faded, only a smoking crater remained.
But Sofia dropped to one knee.
The effort had drained a large portion of her mana.
The three remaining demons retreated.
They had realized that continuing to fight her would come at too great a cost.
"Retreat."
The riders moved to cut off their escape.
The demons changed tactics.
All three raised their hands.
The ground began to split apart.
A winged creature emerged from the depths.
Its black wings covered the sky.
Its roar forced even some of the magical beasts to retreat.
Sofia stared at the creature.
Then she looked at her men.
Several were wounded.
Some would never rise again.
But they were still standing.
"The ten strongest. With me."
The strongest riders advanced.
Their magical spears struck the creature's barrier again and again.
They couldn't defeat it with brute force.
They needed coordination.
Thunder charged.
Larryet leaped.
And Sofia gave the order.
The final strike shattered the barrier.
The creature began to disintegrate.
When it finally fell, the battlefield fell silent.
Sofia looked at her riders.
They had won.
But the price was obvious.
Too many had fallen.
There was no time to mourn them.
Laurence was still inside the city.
And the remaining demons were still at large.
Sofia raised her spear.
"Regroup."
The riders formed ranks once more.
Thunder roared.
Sofia looked toward Vayllencity.
"Let's finish this."
The Douglas unit advanced once again.
Behind them remained the dead beasts, the smoke, and the bodies of those who had defended the camp.
The battle was not over yet.