The scene is with Aria and Melrose.
“Take down the castle!!”
Amor’s voice could be heard from outside.
Melrose’s villa, located in the outskirts of the Royal Capital, was nominally a ‘mansion,’ but it was also a ‘castle’ granted to suppress the dissatisfaction of Melrose’s vassals when Claydale annexed the former duchy of Melrose.
The significance of this was an agreement that the former Claydale side had been forced to make: when the Claydale royal family became corrupt and the nation faced a crisis, former royal families like Melrose and Dandole would strike them down and restore order.
Amor, being royalty, knew this, which is why he called this mansion a ‘castle’ that needed to be brought down, and he seemed fixated on conquering it with an army rather than his own special abilities.
That was precisely why Melrose’s forces, despite numbering only a few dozen, had been able to hold out without falling.
“So you’ve returned, adventurer woman!”
“…”
Amor, who was the first to notice me when I appeared on the castle wall, roared.
Amor’s obsession with me was another reason the siege wasn’t progressing. Since I appeared, it felt like Amor’s target had shifted from Melrose to me.
Was it because I, whom he’d looked down on as a mere adventurer, had annihilated the enemy inside the Dungeon…?
But that was just a reflection of the inferiority complex Amor harbored. For him, who had been oppressed, power was likely both justice and an enemy.
That’s why he was fixated on achieving victory as a commander and became obsessed with me, who had displayed strength.
I wouldn’t call it trivial. But if that’s going to be your weakness, then I’ll exploit it.
“Attack!”
At Amor’s command, arrows were loosed from the Second Order of Knights, and the Undead surged forward.
They hadn’t been idle while I was gone. They had cut down nearby trees to replace the broken ladders and had constructed a battering ram, intending to break down the gate with it.
Seeing this, the soldiers and servants, using their shields like umbrellas against the rain of arrows, threw garden stones and bricks from above. But the Undead pressed on, regardless of whether their skulls were crushed or their necks broken.
But we hadn’t just been wasting time either. It was a short period, but we had prepared countermeasures.
“First wave!”
“””Yes!”””
At my command, several soldiers dumped buckets of muddy water. A few Undead slipped because of it, but that wouldn’t be enough to stop them.
A little longer… just one more second—
“Now!”
CRRAAAASH!!
The battering ram struck the castle gate with a violent sound, and Amor’s lips twisted into a smirk. However, noticing something amiss with his subordinates, he frowned slightly.
“What’s wrong!?”
Amor shouted at the Undead who had stopped moving with the battering ram against the gate, but it wasn’t that they wouldn’t move—they couldn’t move.
“Uwoooooooh!”
The next moment, the closed gate doors burst open as if pushing aside the battering ram, and Melrose’s elite troops charged out, smashing the heads of the immobilized Undead—Worms and all—with blunt weapons.
“S-Stop them!”
“Fall back!”
As Amor shouted, Mikhail also gave orders from inside the gate. The knights returned inside the gate without pursuing too far, and when the belatedly fired arrows struck the closed doors, Amor, seeing this, turned his wide eyes towards me.
“You bastard! What did you do?!”
What I did was simple. Having learned from the soldiers’ reports that a battering ram would be used, I had them douse the battering ram with muddy water and, aiming for the moment it struck the door, had them use Harden (spell) from the inside.
Harden (spell) is a Utility Magic that hardens earth-attribute materials for a certain period; when used on muddy water, it becomes a restraint with the hardness of iron. Having been saved by Harden (spell) many times before, I came up with the idea to use it this time as well.
The problem was that Harden (spell) is a contact magic, but by channeling mana into the door’s metal fittings—which are also earth-attribute—beforehand, it was possible to cast Harden (spell) the moment the battering ram struck.
However, it wasn’t easy. If done poorly, the magic’s activation could have been delayed, and the battering ram might have destroyed the door.
There weren’t many in the mansion who could use Harden (spell), but a Commoner maid volunteered, and Melrose’s unity and morale were high.
“Damn you! Men, overwhelm them with numbers!”
At Amor’s command, Undead charged out with multiple battering rams. Behind them followed Undead armed with spears, perhaps wary of knights emerging from the gate.
The Melrose side immediately dropped mud from above, but this time, that moment was targeted by arrows, and several soldiers were shot down.
“Get the injured back! …Tch!”
CRRAAAASH!!
Aiming for that moment, three battering rams struck the door, and a roar incomparable to the first echoed. We succeeded in using Harden (spell) from the inside simultaneously, but it seemed the impact had caused injuries among the common folk.
The gate doors wouldn’t break easily because the Harden (spell) effect also applied to the metal parts. However, with the enemy waiting outside, the knights inside could no longer exit through the gate.
Besides, if it took this kind of impact repeatedly, the wooden parts, if not the metal ones, wouldn’t hold.
I saw knights from the Second Order of Knights rushing towards the Undead trapped by Harden (spell), intending to use the battering rams again.
For them to free the Undead restrained by Harden (spell), they would need to use the opposing attribute magic, Water Stream, to dispel Harden (spell).
“Nets!”
Seeing that, I had the knights I had prepared as the second wave throw nets.
“What!?”
A sentient knight who saw this brandished his spear, but while a sword might have worked, a spear couldn’t fend off the nets and got entangled. The thrown nets, aimed at the sentient ones, captured several and they were pulled up.
“Show no mercy!”
“You bastards—”
The knights and soldiers who pulled up the nets crushed the heads of the immobilized ones.
The nets had been in this mansion from the start. Melrose is a southern maritime city. Possessing the largest navy in the kingdom, they sometimes fished in lakes during their leave, and I had seen nets drying behind the castle walls, so I asked to use them.
But this, like reinforcing the gate, wasn’t a trick that could be used many times.
If Amor got desperate, he would likely use Fire Arrows to target the nets and those using them.
So, I’ll settle this before that happens.
“Attack again! I’m going out too!”
Amor, who had been hanging back, leaped forward again.
“Is it alright for the commander to come out?”
“Silence! If I defeat you, the rest are just a rabble!”
Amor retorted to my taunt. But that was fine. My goal was to draw him within my reach. That’s precisely why I had targeted the sentient Undead.
Amor couldn’t give orders to all one hundred men by himself. In response to Amor’s vague commands, sentient knights, like the company commander I saw earlier, were giving detailed instructions.
Amor, having had them targeted, had to come forward even if he knew it was a taunt. His retort was likely to prevent me from realizing that.
At the same time, the sentient knights also moved forward, following Amor.
It was likely that among the Undead, only the sentient knights could use sorcery. If Utility Magic was the same, they probably intended to free the Undead trapped by Harden (spell) while Amor drew attention. But…
“You think I’ll just stand by and watch?”
“So you’ve come out, adventurer woman!”
As I leaped from the castle wall, Amor attacked me as if soaring through the air.
“No more holding back.”
I dodged the non-elemental magic Amor unleashed with the recoil of my aerial maneuver, then soared into the sky as if kicking and breaking the neck of an Undead below.
“—Levitate—”
If I’m in the air, I won’t be surrounded by the Undead on the ground. I can’t defeat them either, but the Undead’s means of attack are limited.
“Men, shoot her!”
“Yes, sir!”
Amor gave an order to the company commander below. But that’s why I was here.
Splat!
“Gugh!?”
Before the company commander could relay that order to the non-sentient Undead, the Rope Weight Type Pendulum I swung down crushed his head. I then threw a ceramic jar, and the poison from its shattered contents burned the Worms there to death.
“Damn it, shoot, shoot!”
Seeing that, Amor, while swinging his sword at me, gave crude orders.
But the Undead surrounding Amor and me, in response to that order, merely threw the spears in their hands, not bows or sorcery.
No matter how much the Undead’s physical abilities could ignore muscle strain, heavy spears thrown upwards from below wouldn’t hit.
The sentient knights who had been listening to Amor’s crude orders and giving appropriate instructions, all except the company commander, had headed towards the castle gate.
“Release the second set of nets!”
“Oooooooooooooh!”
At my voice, knights who rushed out from the castle gate threw nets once again.
“With just that!”
They’ve also realized we’re targeting those who can use magic. That’s why they immediately tried to cut the nets with their sharp one-handed swords and daggers.
But these nets were “mud-covered.”
“【Harden (Hard)】!”
Those holding the ropes attached to the nets used 【Harden (Hard)】 to transform them into cages, and seizing that opportunity, all the knights and soldiers who rushed out from the gate kept the will-less Undead in check while taking down the knights who still possessed their will, one after another.
It was just a surprise tactic, but we managed to take down nearly thirty percent of them with it. However, taking down so many of the knights who possessed their will and could issue commands was highly significant.
Now, the knights who still had their will couldn’t carelessly advance, which meant they couldn’t free the Undead caught in the nets, nor could they attack recklessly.
All that’s left is for me to pin down and defeat Amor-sama, who could overturn this situation.
“Don’t underestimate meeee!”
Amor-sama, having thrown off his cloak, enlarged the left half of his body—now made of Worms—and lunged at me.
But I believe I said I wouldn’t be holding back.
“—【Corrosion (Corrosion)】—”
I unleashed my other Level 5 Dark Magic.
“Guoooh! What is this!?”
It’s an area-of-effect attack using Dark Magic that inflicts continuous damage. It’s a difficult spell to use effectively, but from the left side of Amor-sama’s body, which was made of Worms and enveloped in a black mist, dead Worms began to crumble away.
“Damn you, damn you, damn youuuu!!”
Amor-sama, pressing his right hand—which had dropped its sword—to the festering right side of his face, attacked with his enlarged left arm.
Worms flaked off and flew about, but the dead Worms posed no threat. When I slashed off his fingers with my Black Knife, fear flickered across Amor-sama’s face for the first time as his left hand began to disintegrate from the wound.
“I… have been reborrrrn!!”
As he screamed, even the right side of Amor-sama’s body became covered in Worms. These Worms then seemed to devour those on his left, causing his entire body to swell to a giant’s proportions.
So that’s your trump card… In that case.
“—【Iron Rose (Iron Rose)】… 【Real Breaker (Real Breaker)】—!”
I, too, unleashed my trump card. My pinkish-gold hair transformed into an iron-gray hue, like scorched iron, and particles of light scattered from my entire body, spreading out like silver wings.
“Haaaaah!”
“Ugaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”
Amor-sama’s fist—his right face still retaining some semblance of humanity as he let out a cry that was no longer human—clashed with my light. My dagger, wreathed in particles of light, slashed through his arm.
Amor-sama’s arm regenerated, Worms seemingly filling the wound, but he had lost all of his earlier composure.
“Ready your bows! Aid His Highness Amor-denka!”
The knights who still possessed their will at the rear rushed forward, and the Undead, receiving their orders, began to nock their bows. But you’re not the only one with allies.
An arrow, whistling through the air, pierced the eye of the knight who had been issuing commands.
“Support her!!”
The Melrose knights and soldiers also readied their bows, and the Magicians began to fire Fire Arrows to keep the Second Order of Knights pinned down.
With their current equipment, they couldn’t defeat the Undead without resorting to nets or surprise tactics. But they could hold them in place.
While they do, I’ll defeat Amor-sama!
“Guu…”
Amor-sama, finally realizing he was at a disadvantage, glared at me resentfully.
This is where the real battle begins. Will my magic run out first, or will I manage to wear him down completely… I tossed a pill made from dragon’s blood into my mouth, and just as I was about to launch an attack—it happened.
“What…”
Suddenly, from Amor-sama’s chest, a dark red light began to leak from a gap between the densely packed Worms.
His heart? Is that a Magic Stone there? As I warily put some distance between us, it seemed this phenomenon wasn’t something Amor-sama had intended. Slightly flustered, he looked to the north and let out a scream filled with hatred.
“Karla, damn youuuuu!!”
Karla-san? Why her name?
But before I could get an answer, the screaming Amor-sama suddenly bolted in that direction.
I was momentarily stunned as Amor-sama took off with beast-like speed, but then I realized he was heading towards the Royal Capital and gave chase.
Karla-san… did you do something?
Karla-san, what could she have done…?
Next time, the perspective will switch frequently between Aria and Karla.
Some of Aria’s surprise tactics were learned from her master, but most of them come from the knowledge of That Woman.
It seems she was quite the otaku or had a penchant for wild fantasies.