Mock Battle (3)
"Enemy unit one, advancing to F7."
"Vanguard Five to E4."
Asella, receiving the report, commanded her knights with crisp authority.
"Vanguard Four to D3."
The opening moves continued. These two plays revealed the strategies each side intended to pursue.
Kunter was no slouch in strategic theory. Asella knew this full well, so she had no intention of wasting even a single move.
Visualizing the opening deployment in her mind, Asella considered every possible variation.
'They're aiming to seize the high ground early for an advantage. My vanguard's fast on their feet, so they'll try to punch through first.'
—Clang!
The sharp, urgent clash of steel echoed across the mountains from afar. A signal that the two armies had fully engaged.
It had begun.
Asella steadied her breath.
Once the five minutes per turn elapsed, a report came in.
"Vanguard Two has defeated one enemy vanguard unit. We took down three and lost two."
Since this was a mock battle, combat used non-lethal weapons. Knights who fell or passed out were eliminated and could not return to the field.
"Looks like scouts. Considering we had five, it's not a huge gain. Heavy Infantry One, seize the high ground. To H3!"
At Asella's command, the heavy knights charged up the slopes with a roar.
As the battle entered mid-game, Kunter could clearly see the flow.
"Enemy survivors: thirty. Our side: forty-one."
Kunter sensed victory and grew excited at the scout's report.
"We've taken three high grounds. Moonlight Palace has just one. You overextended for the hills and got flanked, Asella."
The knights of the Second Barracks were generally large and favored heavy armor. In a flat open clash with equal numbers, First Star Palace would be at a disadvantage. That's why Kunter targeted mountain ambushes with his light, mobile force armed in leather light armor and shortswords.
"It's not like chess. Victory odds shift with attack vectors."
His strategy was working. If things continued like this, he'd win.
Kunter gripped his shortsword tighter—the moment that thought crossed his mind.
—Whoosh-crash!
Ice walls erupted, encircling three sides of the terrain where Kunter's unit stood.
"What?!"
The walls towered several meters high, thick enough that they couldn't be broken without serious effort.
They were trapped.
"Where's Asella?"
"C7, three squares from main base!"
Kunter clicked his tongue.
"I thought she'd retreated to main base after getting pushed off the high ground."
The opposite was true. Asella had marched straight into his home base.
"If I'm ambushed, it's over. Move out. Main base to F10!"
Three sides sealed off. Only east remained for escape.
But just as Kunter moved to the next sector.
—Boom!
Another massive ice wall surged up, uprooting dense trees in its path.
Escape routes narrowed again. No returning west, so only the opposite direction.
"No way, Asella."
Kunter caught on to her intent.
The next move east. Moonlight Palace's vanguard, which had overextended earlier, was already camped there.
"She planned to trap me in a maze from the start...!"
Kunter bit his tongue. Each sector was at least 200 meters square. This wasn't a tiny chessboard; it was a battlefield.
Enclosing two full sectors with ice walls? Practically cheating.
"How were we supposed to account for magic like that?!"
Deploying such precise ice magic repeatedly. A monster.
He'd forgotten he was up against a monster.
Cold sweat beaded on Kunter's brow.
Stuck unable to advance or retreat, Asella's turn arrived.
Her next move was obvious.
"Oh, here they come...!"
A group charging down the mountainside mid-slope came into view. The lead knight's red hair fluttered through her helmet slit.
Undoubtedly Tanya, the rumored sword expert.
"One move, if you please."
Despite her polite words, Tanya swung wildly ferocious.
Combat erupted.
Asella still had three minutes left in her turn. Kunter's main force couldn't escape the sector in that time.
"Knights, hold for three minutes!"
His turn would come soon, allowing escape. He could even call mobile units for defense.
—Clang!
Swords clashed. Dust billowed thick, stones scattering everywhere.
"Hup!"
Tanya's sword aura was sharp and precise. No waste in her footwork or swing arcs.
"Gah!"
Knights struck by her aura slashes couldn't withstand and fell one by one.
Her skill rivaled the emperor's guard swordmasters, as rumored.
Just as they held on desperately, a whistle amplified by magic echoed across the mountains.
"Turn! My turn...! Mobile unit! Rush to F7 max speed!"
Kunter shouted desperately.
All his prior strategy meant nothing now. His widespread formation, meant to cut off enemies, had caused this crisis.
Five minutes later, the mobile unit arrived. Distance had consumed all their move time.
Still, crisis averted. The moment Kunter planned to break through and flee to the next sector.
—Thud!
An ice chunk slammed into Kunter's back.
"You look just like a salmon flopping on the riverbank, Kunter, still not getting it."
Asella strode in confidently, dispelling the ice walls.
Seeing her assured victory expression boiled Kunter's blood.
"Using non-knight strategies in a mock battle? Cheating!"
"No idea what you mean. As commander, one of your forces, shouldn't you use your abilities to the max?"
"Th-that's cheating! I wouldn't lose a head game to a kid like you!"
"Pathetic. Looks like age is all you've got."
Asella coolly retorted, pointing her staff at Kunter.
Her ten main-base knights charged in unison.
Watching his guards fall one by one, Kunter clenched his fists.
"I have nothing but age?!"
He ground his teeth and bellowed.
"You only win because your mom's talented!"
"Pfft."
Asella laughed genuinely in scorn.
The cost of her talent, the pain from her own mother Camilla, the effort to master magic. Outsiders couldn't see that.
In the past, such words would've fueled her hatred for the imperial family. But now, Asella brimmed with composure.
She had someone who understood it all.
Brushing off the insult, she hurled a provocative retort.
"Weren't you and Heike blood siblings?"
"You...!"
Asella's blatant comparison exploded Kunter's inferiority complex.
'Father's watching too...!'
Infuriating, but no counter.
First Star knights fell to Moonlight Palace one by one.
When even the knight captain collapsed at his feet, Kunter knew it was time for his last resort.
"I'm not incompetent!"
Kunter pulled a vial from his bosom. The item Libio had given him.
Using this, he could take down Asella himself.
"It's the imperial family that's the problem! If I'd been born normal, I'd be called a genius too! How am I supposed to compete with monsters like you?!"
Kunter's hand trembled.
Asella snorted at him and snapped.
"You think you were the lone swan in a monster den? Even if you have to ink your feathers black, aspire to fly. If I were you, I'd have devoured this palace long ago."
"Urk...!"
Kunter gritted his teeth.
'Can't take anymore!'
—Shatter!
He crushed the vial in his grip.
—Whoosh!
Black energy spilled out, enveloping him.
"I'll shove those words back at you. I'll devour you, Asella!"
The spell wrapped around Kunter. Instantly, he felt a burning power ignite from within.
"Ooh...!"
Libio's prepared ultimate spell was sure to be potent.
With this power, even Asella with her strong knights and magic couldn't endure.
As Kunter's confidence soared.
"Wha-what...?!"
Something was wrong. His sword hand bulged and twisted grotesquely. Muscles hardened and expanded explosively. His body swelled, ripping his clothes.
"Kunter, what did you use?"
Asella narrowed her eyes. He'd clearly used a forbidden spell he shouldn't touch.
"Asellllaaa!"
Kunter's body ballooned huge, eyes glowing red. The monstrous sight startled Asella.
"Knew it would come to this."
A heavy-armored knight beside Tanya stepped in front of Asella.
I was drenched in sweat from wearing heavy plate armor and hefting a shield for so long. Still, thanks to Tanya leading, I'd kept up with the vanguard without issue.
Now facing Kunter, mutated into a monster behind Asella's back.
Tanya instantly grasped the situation and rushed to support.
"Teacher, this is."
"A curse. A strengthening jutsu."
Before I finished, Kunter's fist—now elephant-leg thick—flew at me.
—Crunch!
Thankfully, Tanya reacted fast and deflected his arm.
Impressive.
"Ooooh!"
Kunter staggered, unaccustomed to his enhanced body. Seizing the gap, I pushed Asella back.
"Princess, fall back for now. It's dangerous."
"Young master?! What are you doing here!"
Asella yelped in surprise.
"How'd you know? I disguised my voice."
"Think I can't tell that much? You get out of here now!"
"Sorry, but circumstances..."
"I told you to sit this one out. Why act on your own?!"
"You needed me for real, didn't you? Scold me later."
Whack!
Unappeased, Asella smacked my head with her staff.
"I'm not forgiving this. Withdraw now. What’s a doctor doing in combat...!"
"No, both of you avoid fighting and fall back."
Tanya leaped in front of us into defensive stance.
—Boom!!
Kunter hurled his full body at us. The ground split where his foot landed, dirt exploding skyward like a mine.
But Tanya kept Asella and me safe. Other knights swarmed, pulling Kunter away from us.
While they bought time, I persuaded Asella.
"Princess, Kunter's effectively under a curse called a jutsu. I can resolve it."
I explained calmly, but Asella's expression didn't soften.
"Why won't you listen? Can't I just suppress him?"
"I know the method."
"Just knock him down. Don't you trust me?"
"No, why's it turning into this."
"What if you die!"
Asella screamed like a banshee. I hadn't expected such vehemence; it flustered me a bit.
Well... as her retainer, my life is hers, so she can't just let me throw it away.
'But is there really reason to hate it this much?'
...Could Asella actually be worried about me? That Asella von Württemberg?
If so.
'Is Asella becoming someone different from the emperor I knew?'
Her golden eyes met mine, glistening. Not just anger—mingled resentment.
Boom!
The storm of battle raged. No time for stray thoughts.
I pulled equipment Hugo made from my waist pouch.
"I won't die. This lets me identify the curse type."
"Identify for what?"
Jingle.
I reached into my collar and drew the artifact I always wore. Dark Incarnation's Amulet.
Activated
Infusing mana, two lines appeared in my skill window.
Spell: Curse Creation
Spell: Curse Manipulation
I answered Asella.
"Time to play with it."