“Wroooooaaaaar!”

A Mindwave burst from deep within the jungle.

The distance was considerable, but the Mindwave’s strength was considerable as well.

“Command staff, everyone! Do not close your eyes or cover your ears!”

Jo braced for the hallucinations and pain that were about to strike.

Soon, horrific visions churned through her mind.

Whirling stars, creeping tendrils, black feathers in flight, and the voice of a monster plated in shell.

And finally, an indescribably cloying, unpleasant sense of relief—whose source she could not even guess.

“Hff… hha…”

Jo wiped the tears that welled at the corners of her eyes.

“Send in the recovery unit! Evacuate the wounded!”

She raised her voice again, shouting.

“Confirm that Kyrie is unharmed!”

Messengers who had regained clarity sprinted in all directions.

We have to prepare for Mindwaves. Pull back the riders and form the evacuation group. Once the Mindwave hits, they rush in immediately, pull the knights and attendants out, treat them, and return.

Soon, the contingency force Kyrie had foreseen began to show its worth.

“Sir Knight! Hold on just a little longer!”

“My lord, my lord! Do not close your eyes!”

“Someone get that sword away from him! Hey—? He’s reaching for a warhammer!”

Knights who had been struck by the Mindwave and fainted or half-lost their senses were carried out on saddles from the jungle.

They were moved to the field hospital near the command center.

There, Bishop Saturn, monks, and nuns were gathered with a large supply of holy water.

“May the mercy of the Eternal Church shine upon this humble servant; let bones knit and wounds be healed.”

“May the righteous wrath of the Eternal Church drive out this chaotic filth; let rot and plague be purified under the sacred flame.”

Prayers of starlight healing and starlight purification echoed without end.

If my prediction is correct, now is when the tide turns.

Jo waited for the knights to emerge from the hospital.

At that moment, one knight staggered out.

“I thought I was gonna die. Damn.”

“You dare utter profanity before His Grace the Bishop?”

“Damn. Apologies, Your Grace. But what would you have me call the situation where an orc warrior nearly tore my arm off?”

Healthy bronze skin, silver hair.

Peijin of the New Moon.

“Sir Knight!”

“Adjutant Jo!”

As Bishop Saturn scolded her, Peijin promptly rushed to Jo.

“Did the spore marsh appear deeper inside?”

“Oh! Yeah. Looked like Sir Kyrie and Sir Nereus found it at the same time.”

“So that’s why the beasts went frantic.”

Beasts fled when pushed back—but before a spore marsh, they could also go mad.

“Understood. Is Sir Kyrie unharmed?”

“He endured well. And that rosary—? Something like a rosary—shone and canceled some of the Mindwave, too.”

“A rosary? In any case, I’ll take that to mean he endured well.”

Jo recognized it immediately.

This was the moment to press the advantage.

“In that case, please return to the front. If possible, bring along some of your company—attendants or elite soldiers at least.”

“Well, I can. But wouldn’t it be better to grind them down slowly? Why the rush?”

“We must reduce the time each person is exposed to the Mindwave.”

“That’s true. All right. If I come back alive, I’ll teach you more swordwork—look forward to it.”

Peijin tied up her hair again and ran back down the hill.

That recovery rate was what widened the gap between Kyrie and Nereus.

“Kill them!”

“We win!”

The two Blue Knights fought at the foremost line.

The quality of forces around them was nearly equal, but reinforcement rates differed.

Thanks to Bishop Saturn, Kyrie could recall knights wounded by Mindwaves or greenskin attacks almost immediately.

Sometimes, the Cruciform Crystal Rosary inside his coat shone with a sharp, icy radiance and neutralized the Mindwave’s aftershocks.

This is basically relic-tier, isn’t it?! Wonderful. I’ve become a high criminal who stole a relic.

Nereus had no Bishop Saturn. No sacred rosary.

His forces had priests and monks—but nothing comparable.

Thus the burden Nereus had to shoulder on the front line grew steadily heavier.

“Victory! Give me victory! Grant me victory!”

Crackle!

A crimson chain discharge spread like a web.

Mutated orcs and goblins collapsed before they could even scream.

But Kyrie used a far more efficient method to bring them down.

“Frey. Handle it.”

“Mm-hmm!”

Intimidation.

He entrusted his personal defense to Frey, Peijin, and the nearby knights.

He released amplified electromagnetic pulses from his arcane gauntlet, freezing the mutated beasts’ limbs.

If not for the Mindwave, the gunners could bombard them freely and finish all of them.

The scales of the battle began to tilt.

The highest-ranking combat units of the beast cluster emerged before the two Blue Knights.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

“Wroooooaaar!”

Before Nereus stood an ogre covered head to toe in scales.

The ogre smashed its fists together, sparks flying, and charged, shaking the earth.

“Unquenching flame!”

Before Kyrie stood a high orc shaman with a staff of bone.

The skull attached to the staff chattered; a fireball formed.

Nereus had to charge with Thunder Stride toward the scaled ogre.

Mana…!

He was reaching his limit for large-scale techniques.

Kyrie was not.

“O Herald of Thunder.”

He simply called Lightning Strike.

A cooldown icon flickered at the edge of his vision—and true lightning fell from the sky.

I felt victory in the air of the battlefield.

The high orc shaman burned to bone-dust, not even ashes remaining.

“Chi-eek! Chi-eek!”

“Hiiiii!”

“Dead! Dead!”

A beast was still just a beast.

The orcs and goblins screamed and scattered, fleeing in all directions.

“Waaahhh!”

“They’re running!”

“Burn the spore marsh and begin the pursuit!”

Tanzen, Daniel, and Peijin shouted.

Fwaaaaa!

“Advance! Advance!”

Behind us came the marching trumpet and Jo’s magically amplified voice.

I loosened my grip on the Thunderstrike Longsword.

My part was done.

“Kyrie! Kyrie! Kyrie!”

“Blessings of the Eternal Church upon the One-Eyed Blue Knight!”

“May the Herald of Thunder show favor to our lord!”

The soldiers who had been held in reserve rushed past me into the forest.

Actual numbers were always collected during pursuit.

More beasts died in mere minutes than we had slain in the entire initial engagement.

The Cruciform Crystal Rosary glowed within my coat, cold and burning at once.

Should I have returned it then? No. If I’d hesitated under Gracchus’s gaze, even the knights would have wavered. Pressing through shamelessly was correct.

A bitter smile came naturally.

I had become a thief of a relic.

So now I’ll say it was deliberate. Yes. If questioned later, I’ll insist it was absolutely necessary on the battlefield. The Constellations would prefer a relic be used where needed rather than locked in a vault.

Perhaps the fact the rosary had ended up mixed among the gold had been a miracle.

Miracle, my ass.

I let out a self-mocking laugh.

Still—
It was laughter.

“My lord!”

“Jo.”

I didn’t know how long I had stood there.

Jo approached on horseback, taking the reins of my horse, and brought it to me.

I mounted and surveyed the field.

Hensonia was burning the spore marsh. Peijin was driving her sword into the knee of a high-grown ogre. Gaven stood guard beside Bishop Saturn.

Soldiers, gathered in small groups, killed the remaining mutated beasts.

Thrust—

A spear pierced chest or throat the instant a maw opened; axes and swords sank into backs as they fled.

We won.

Victory.

The tension eased. I sighed.

A satisfied sigh only the victor could release.

Beyond the jungle, between the trees, the Helix Barony came into view.

“Sir Kyrie.”

Bishop Saturn rode up beside me.

“Let us end this trophy competition and assemble the soldiers to reclaim the barony. Competing with your friend for trophies is trivial compared to destroying the Eternal Church’s enemies and rescuing the townsfolk.”

He began to lecture.

“By the Herald of Thunder—”

Frey clicked his tongue.

It was the expression of a Blue Knight who believed there was nothing more important in the world than trophy competition.

For me, it was not bad.

A glimmer.

【Hero’s Journey — Stage 2: Warlord】
【Form your warband.】
【Failure penalty: Death】
【Reward: Area-wide power infusion】

【Hero’s Journey — Stage 3: (Locked)】

…

【Sub-Objective 3: HOME SWEET HOME】
【Establish a foundation to sustain long-term rule.】
【Effective control of a city with population 100,000+】
【Success Reward: Heaven-Thunder Body Index +50%】
【Additional Reward 1: +10% per 10,000 population】
【Additional Reward 2: Lightning Strike cooldown changes upon surpassing 50,000 population】
【Failure Penalty: Sub-objective reset】

I let the stigmata show in my right eye.

That city likely has more than 100,000.

If we liberated it now, we might fulfill the sub-objective.

The Helix family is there, so I can’t claim rightful sovereignty. But given wartime circumstances and my status as foster heir, forced provisional rule might count.

I looked at Jo.

“Jo.”

“Yes, sir!?”

Jo’s face was full of questions.

Trophies were critical to soldiers: promotions, pay, leave.

Also, since greenskins were spore-based, even a few escaping meant they could repopulate.

“I understand, sir.”

But my sub-objective mattered more.

Fwaa! Fwaa! Fwaa!

Jo sounded the assembly horn.

We crossed before Nereus could even begin the mopping-up.

I donned the Sky-Shard Cloak and stood at the vanguard with Bishop Saturn.

“…There is no need.”

“Yes?”

Bishop Saturn murmured.

“I know the soldiers will resent my earlier command. No matter how devout you may be, as supreme commander you must also care for morale.”

I did not agree.

“But as a faithful apostle of the Eternal Church, I accept being hated. There is no need for you to keep me beside you simply to shield me from harsh words. I already know your sincerity. You honor clerics, value the lives of soldiers and subjects, and understand honor. It is all right to act in ways that allow you to be better loved.”

“Thank you.”

I did not reveal my thoughts.

What nonsense is he talking about? Rykenta’s nobles won’t fire on a bishop—he’s my meat shield.

If reality is satisfactory, there is no need to change it.

I crossed the ruined wheat fields with Bishop Saturn toward the city wall.

Whsssh! Whsssh! Whsssh!

“Hm?”

On my radar, arrows blessed by wind magic were incoming.

Are the Rykenta bastards insane?

It seemed their commanding officers were eager to be excommunicated.

Kyrie’s suspicion was half correct.

The two commanders of Rykenta were in no state to worry about excommunication.

“Gyaaaahhh!”

“Raaaagh!”

Auren, gold-haired, and Gamos, black-haired, screamed like beasts.

“They cut through thousands of mutated beasts? In less than a day? Less than a day! Before our scouts even returned—how is that possible?!”

“This is your fault, Gamos! If you hadn’t diverted all the gliders to watch Custodia’s marchward borders, we wouldn’t have collapsed this easily!”

“Shut up! Don’t try to dump this on me. If we die, we both die! I erred, and you failed to stop my error! You think Erika will spare you? Mutated beasts, troops, territory—everything is about to burn!”

Auren’s glass-green eyes were filled with chaos.

“…I culled the beasts too quickly.”

She raked her hands through her hair and exhaled sharply.

“It really is my fault. I didn’t think they’d arrive so fast. Didn’t think they’d attack immediately. As expected of Astrios. Their unity is better than ours—local governor, supreme commander, and the foster heir from the capital all moving in lockstep.”

Gamos closed his eyes tight, then opened them.

“Our house could never do such a thing.”

Their green Rykenta eyes met.

“If we flee alone, it’s pointless.”

“Yeah. The loot, the war funds, that liquid—we lose it all. And the moment we falter, the city’s soldiers will rise against us.”

“Then there’s no choice. We try to take the Blue Knight commander.”

“He uses Lightning Strike. Did you not see?”

“Of course I saw. He already used it. Unless someone extraordinary is here, he’s exhausted. And if someone extraordinary were here, we’d know. Fine. At least today, he’ll be worn out.”

“All right. Either way, we die. So we struggle.”

“I’ll clear the clouds from the wall. You fire the ki-cannon. Without their Blue Knights, Astrios is nothing.”

Chapter 62

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