Aurora's Dance (1)
The Ice Wall stood perpetually shrouded in frost. From a distance it resembled a barrier frozen solid from top to bottom, which was exactly why the nickname had stuck. Even the atmosphere around the Ice Wall felt frozen stiff.
“…”
Charles Carmilton, Grand Duke of the North, gazed down at the foot of the wall with icy eyes. Since taking the ducal seat he had climbed the ramparts countless times and witnessed multiple monster waves. Yet never—not once—had he seen this many monsters gathered in one place.
Charles studied the horde in silence before speaking.
“A great many.”
“…Yes, Your Grace. They’re swarming like maggots.”
The number of monsters was staggering, yet the Grand Duke’s knights remained utterly composed. Clad in frost-covered armor, they stood motionless as ice. For them, holding back a monster wave was simply another day’s work. The enemy’s numbers meant nothing. They crushed invaders. That was all.
Among those coldly disciplined knights, a woman whose beauty stood out like vivid blue petals checked her gear. Daina Carmilton. Heir to the Carmilton ducal house and the woman destined to lead the North one day.
“Daina.”
“Yes, Father.”
“If the situation turns against us, retreat.”
Daina shook her head.
“I can’t do that.”
“It is an order.”
“…Are you trying to make me the duchess?”
When Daina spoke in that half-petulant tone, Charles Carmilton allowed himself the faintest smile.
“You were born to become duchess, Daina. Therefore you must.”
“Father…”
“Guarding the wall is the duty of the Carmilton Duke. I am the duke, so I will hold it. But you, Daina, are not yet the duke.”
“…”
“If matters grow dire, retreat.”
Charles turned his head as he continued.
“The North requires a duke. Always. No matter the circumstances.”
If both Charles and Daina fell, the North would lose its ducal line. Even if Charles died, Daina’s survival would allow a new Duke of the North to rise.
I won’t die. Not Father, not the knights, not me…!
Daina’s eyes blazed. Even amid the biting frost her fighting spirit burned white-hot. That was the woman called Daina Carmilton.
I’ll slaughter every last monster and return home!
Bwooooooooo—!
A thunderous horn blast rolled across the snow.
“The enemy is advancing—!”
It begins!
The monster wave had started. A black tide of monsters so vast it swallowed the white plains charged the Ice Wall in unison.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
The ground itself trembled. The colossal vibration traveled straight through the wall and into their bones. Daina pressed a hand to her pounding heart, forcing it to steady.
“They’re latching on!”
“Bring up the boiling oil!”
“West wall! The main force is veering west!”
Daina drew both swords and shouted to the knights.
“Everyone! Support the west wall!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Daina fought like a valiant storm, her blades reaping monster after monster. Each flash of her dual swords severed limbs and sprayed black blood. Fast and ferocious as a blizzard, she shone brilliantly even among so many veteran knights.
There are so many… but we can hold!
Hope kindled in Daina’s chest.
If we keep this momentum—!
Every Carmilton knight was a battle-hardened elite. Their skill at repelling monster waves was unquestionably the finest in the empire. Though the enemy numbers were overwhelming, not a single monster crested the wall. The piled corpses of the fallen soon rose high enough that others could climb over them.
…And that was when it happened.
“Kiyaaaaah—!”
“Princess!!!”
A massive ratman lunged at Daina. She twisted aside from its claws and drove her twin blades into its eyes in rapid succession. Blinding the beast in the space of a heartbeat, she spun like a dancer and sliced its throat open. The ratman collapsed before she could draw a second breath.
She had displayed magnificent swordsmanship, yet Daina’s face showed no joy—only ragged breaths.
“Where did that one come from?”
“The rear, ma’am! Monsters are pouring in from behind the wall!”
“…!”
Holding a wall with the barrier between you and the enemy was one thing. Stopping monsters attacking from both sides was something else entirely.
Daina shouted urgently.
“The rear? But the rangers were stationed there—!”
“…It appears they’ve been annihilated.”
“…”
Daina clenched her teeth until they creaked. The kind ranger uncles who had treated her like their own daughter… all of them… gone?
The knight continued, voice tight with suppressed emotion.
“Mages who command monsters. Beast Tamers.”
“Beast Tamers…!”
“Those filthy bastards have joined hands with the Liberation Army and are hammering our rear!”
Daina issued orders at once.
“Gather the knights! Saving the rear takes priority over reinforcing the wall!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Her attendant waved the princess’s personal banner. As the tall standard fluttered, knights who had been fighting nearby began converging one after another.
“Princess!”
“You called?”
Daina shouted without hesitation.
“Follow me! If the rear is overrun we lose any chance of victory! We must break the enemy there!”
The Duke had told her to retreat if the situation worsened. But the moment the surprise attack on the rear began, Daina understood.
There was nowhere left to run. The enemy meant to bury both the Carmilton knights and the ducal family beneath the Ice Wall.
“Yes, Princess!”
“Follow Her Highness—!”
The knights clustered around Daina raced toward the rear.
The instant they arrived—
…they had to fight down a rising wave of despair. The situation was worse than they could have imagined. Bodies littered every direction. The ground ran red with blood. Monsters rampaged wildly while Liberation Army soldiers slaughtered civilians without mercy.
“You… sons of bitches—!”
As Daina raised her dual swords, blue mana erupted around her like flame. She was the only dual-wielding female knight present; the enemy recognized her immediately.
“Well, well! Look at the prize we’ve caught!”
“It’s Princess Daina herself!”
“All the trouble you caused us with just a few monsters… Hehehe…”
The Beast Tamers sneered at her. Their faction had long clashed with the Carmilton family for many reasons. Of course, Daina’s personal hatred stemmed from the way they kidnapped people to use as monster feed.
“The Carmilton house ends today!”
“Freedom awaits in the new kingdom—!”
Daina swiftly assessed the enemy: Beast Tamers, the monsters they dominated, and the rebel forces calling themselves the Liberation Army.
Can we win?
The enemy was both numerous and difficult. The Beast Tamers in particular could summon fresh monsters with terrifying ease while the main wave raged. As long as their mana held, the attacks would never stop.
Meanwhile Daina had already spent a great deal of mana defending the wall, then more rushing here. The odds were painfully slim.
No!
She steeled her heart.
I must win. I have to!
If she fell here, everything ended. The wall would be surrounded. The knights, the soldiers, her father—they would all become monster fodder.
“I, Daina Carmilton, hereby declare that every traitor and rebel before me shall be executed—in the name of Duke Carmilton!”
“Hehehe! Traitors? Us?”
“Let’s bury the little princess in the ice before we get ‘executed’!”
The monster horde surged forward. Daina swung her blades with every last drop of mana she possessed. Death did not matter. She was the daughter of the Northern Grand Duke and heir to the Carmilton name. If this death protected the North, she would embrace it gladly.
‘…Ah.’
Daina staggered. Her mana was running dry. Without realizing it she glanced upward.
…Snowstorm Bugs.
Northerners loved the snowstorm bugs. Clever creatures that warned of coming disasters, they were also regarded as divine messengers sent by Aurora, the guardian deity of the North.
Was the protector goddess watching today’s battle?
Or perhaps…
Daina pictured a certain man’s face. Dante Aision. The Bug Tamer who had come from the empire.
Could Sir Dante be watching over me?
Probably neither. A snowstorm bug was only a snowstorm bug.
…As that thought crossed her mind and she tried to regain her stance, something astonishing occurred.
“…Huh?”
“Monsters? What’s wrong with you…?”
The Beast Tamers panicked. The monsters that had obeyed them perfectly until now suddenly began radiating strange intent.
Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me…!
“Wait, slow down! Help with what? Speak clearly!”
Help me. Help me. Help me…!
Scratch. Scratch. Scratch…
The monsters began clawing frantically at their own bodies. The Beast Tamers tried desperately to regain control, but it was useless. The monsters no longer obeyed.
And then—
“What the hell are you doing?!”
“Stop! I ordered you to stop!”
“Uwooooooo—!”
The monsters lost all reason and began attacking everything in sight. It wasn’t just one or two. Every monster the snowstorm bugs had flown past went berserk, tearing into each other with insane fury.
“What… is happening?”
The knights paused their own fighting to stare. Even lifelong Northerners had never witnessed anything like it. Wherever the snowstorm bugs passed, monsters turned on one another—and soon on the Beast Tamers and Liberation Army soldiers as well.
“Is it true? Is Lady Aurora truly watching over us?!”
The knights shouted with rising excitement. Most believed that was the only possible explanation. There was simply no other way to account for the miracle.
…But one person thought differently.
Sir Dante.
The parasite he had been researching so intently in the castle. Akchichi’s Bug. If he had orchestrated this—
Then I’ve incurred a debt I can never repay…
Daina closed her eyes, then opened them again. A deep smile curved her lips.
She could ask for details after the battle was won.
“Now! Everyone, target the mages!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
The knights charged the Beast Tamers at blinding speed. With the living wall of monsters gone, the mages fell helplessly.
“Gyaaaaah—!”
“This is impossible! Why won’t they listen?!”
“Will collision?! Their wills are clashing?! In theory two mages could fight for control of a monster, but— No! That can’t actually happen—!!!”
Daina’s sword flashed, cutting a mage in two. As the Beast Tamers died, the enemy’s power crumbled. Maintaining the encirclement became impossible. The Liberation Army soldiers were hunted down by both the frenzied monsters and the enraged knights, meeting miserable ends.
“The enemy is fleeing!”
“Pursue them! We can’t let them regroup!”
“But the wall—!”
“The wall will hold! His Grace is there! Trust the name of Carmilton!”
“…!”
The knights nodded with grim resolve and prepared to chase the routed enemy alongside Daina. Yet others were already ahead of them.
Whoosh—!
A throwing axe sliced through the snow and buried itself in a fleeing soldier’s back.
“Gah!”
The axe had been hurled by warriors emerging from the snowy plains beyond.
“Who are they…?”
The knights stared, then recoiled in shock.
“Sirdan…! It’s the Liberation Army—!”
The infamous Liberation Army warrior Sirdan had appeared.
“Princess! You must withdraw—!”
“Wait!”
Daina watched Sirdan’s group for a moment. To her astonishment, Sirdan and his warriors were attacking not her forces, but another contingent of the Liberation Army.
The knights were once again rendered speechless by the absurdity. The Liberation Army fighting itself? An internal schism?
Fortunately, an explanation arrived.
A nobleman in uniform came running. The moment she saw his face, Daina nearly burst into tears.
“Sir Dante…!”
It was Dante Aision.
The instant he saw her, Dante spoke.
“Are you all right, Princess? Any wounds?”
“…None. Thanks to you.”
Dante smiled.
“Then I’m glad I wasn’t too late.”
Yes. Truly…
Instead of answering aloud, Daina’s legs gave out and she dropped to her knees. She no longer had the mana even to stand.
Dante turned his back to her.
“This is no place to linger. Can you climb onto my back?”
“…You’ll carry me?”
“Yes. The situation is urgent. There’s no need to hesitate.”
Daina quietly wrapped her arms around his neck and let him lift her. His back was warm, solid, and strangely comforting. For some reason, she felt tears threatening to fall.