I Got Fired As an Adventurer, So I’m Starting Anew As an Alchemist! Frontier Exploration? Alright, Leave It to Me!

205. The Tide Of Battle Changes Because Of Betrayal, Isn’t It?

Nobuna felt a massive concentration of magical power on the battlefield.

“Something terrible is coming!”

Her brother, Kanetsugu, also sensed the immense magical energy and looked up at the sky.

“Wh-what’s this? Some insane magic is coming, right?”

“No doubt about it. Kanetsugu! We’re summoning defensive shikigami!”

“G-got it!”

Nobuna and Kanetsugu quickly gave orders to their subordinates. Despite Kanetsugu’s timid nature, he was surprisingly adept at commanding troops.

“““We offer our prayers. Come forth from the underworld, Karakasa Douji!!!”””

What they summoned were one-legged shikigami shaped like umbrellas. A large number of Karakasa Douji floated above the Mizuho warriors, covering them.

Almost simultaneously with the shikigami’s deployment, the enemy’s magic activated. It was a vicious spell reminiscent of ancient times when magic was still called sorcery.

A scorching red rain, like boiling mercury, poured down in a torrent. It was a forbidden curse, beyond human control, capable of turning all living things into scorched earth.

Had this been during the Mizuho defense battle, Nobuna and her troops wouldn’t have survived. But now, they were vastly different from before.

What Nobuna had seen by chance in Golden Dawn was the training of the Kendall siblings.

They trained alongside adventurers, enduring severe injuries daily. The shock of this was understandable.

Of course, children weren’t sent to the battlefield, but their enthusiasm couldn’t be stopped, and it served as good training for the adventurers as well.

What caught Nobuna’s attention was their training method. The frontliners used healing potions liberally, allowing them to engage in real, deadly sword fights that were impossible in regular training. This not only honed their sword skills but also their ability to use potions effectively.

But what stood out most were the rear guard magic users. They cast spells until their mana was completely depleted, something normally unthinkable. Then, they forcibly replenished their mana with potions and continued casting until they collapsed.

Seeing their magical power increase day by day, Nobuna knew they had to adopt this method.

Nobuna immediately begged her grandfather, Shingen, for a budget to purchase mana potions. From then on, she and Kanetsugu’s troops trained relentlessly, pushing themselves to the brink of collapse every day.

They were no longer the same as during the Mizuho defense battle.

That’s why they were barely able to suppress the ancient, overwhelming sorcery.

Of course, they didn’t come out unscathed. The shikigami, infused with their maximum magical power, significantly reduced the scorching rain’s intensity, but they were completely consumed.

The fact that they endured was partly due to the shikigami’s compatibility with the enemy’s attack method.

Still, the weakened scorching rain struck the Mizuho soldiers.

“All troops, halt! Treat the wounded immediately! Fortunately, the surrounding monsters were caught in the magic and aren’t nearby!”

Shingen’s voice boomed. True to his words, the monsters around them had also been caught in the magic, leaving the area eerily empty.

After using potions, the Mizuho warriors retreated to the fortress without a single casualty.

Thus, the first battle between the Duvattein Empire and the Maugaria Kingdom ended in a decisive victory for the Kingdom.

◆

For a while after that, a stalemate ensued.

The monsters surrounded the fortress, while the imperial army attacked from a distance using catapults and magic, which the Kingdom defended against with shikigami and their own magic.

Though the number of monsters had halved, tens of thousands remained, making it impossible for the Kingdom to launch an offensive.

Amid this, the Empire moved to break the deadlock. They launched a surprise attack through the shallows, bypassing the outer walls along the river.

But…….

“We’ve been waiting for you, Imperial army! Taste our spears!”

The one who shouted was Jurara, a lizardman warrior and village chief.

He and his troops submerged in the water, lured the enemy in, and then surged out from the shallows.

“Craft-sama will recognize my strength and take me as his mate!”

“Shururu! Watch your language!”

Among the lizardman troops that emerged simultaneously was Shururu, a lizardman with a more human-like form.

Lizardmen, naturally far more adept in water than humans, were even using underwater breathing potions. In a water-based battle, no one could match them.

The Empire had deployed monsters capable of fighting both on land and in water, but most were hydras, which made them easy prey for the battle-hardened lizardmen.

Of course, without the underwater breathing potions, it would have been a much tougher fight.

The Empire suffered terribly.

As they advanced through the shallows, lizardmen suddenly emerged from the depths, causing chaos. When the Empire tried to counterattack, the lizardmen retreated back into the depths. With no way to pursue, the Empire could only watch as their numbers dwindled under the lizardmen’s relentless waves of attacks.

Thanks to the “Monster Lure Set” and underwater breathing potions secretly transported by Alphard to Craft, the lizardmen excelled in defending Dawn Fortress.

Another standout was Jitaro.

He volunteered as an archer on a steamship.

When the Empire attacked through the shallows, he positioned the steamship behind the lizardmen to provide support.

While the primary role of the steamship was rescuing and treating the wounded in the chaotic shallows, skilled archers like Jitaro and other adventurers provided covering fire.

“Here we go!”

Jitaro was a hunter. He had no qualms about taking lives, especially against those who dared attack his beloved Golden Dawn.

Most of his arrows were aimed at the hydras and other amphibious monsters, the real threats in the shallows.

In any case, Jitaro also played a significant role.

“…Huh? Is that all for me?”

◆

The tide of battle shifted about half a month later.

Suddenly, a large number of rafts floated down from the upper reaches of the Dawn River and attached themselves to one of the bridge piers.

This happened far enough from the fortress to be out of sight.

For some reason, only that pier had many ropes tied to it, and the imperial soldiers on the rafts grabbed and connected them. From their position, the fortress was a distant blur, and seeing no movement, the soldiers felt reassured they hadn’t been noticed.

The ropes on the pier weren’t the only oddity. Several ropes also hung down from the bridge above.

The soldiers climbed these ropes as trained. But before that, a bee-man buzzed up to the bridge.

On the bridge, a small group of Mizuho soldiers waited.

“Hey, looks like you kept your promise, huh?”

“Mizuho warriors don’t break promises. More importantly—”

“Whoa, don’t say it out loud.”

“…”

The Mizuho warrior started to say something but stopped at the bee-man’s warning.

“Well, you did good. I’ll keep my promise, though it’s a hassle.”

“…”

“Still, this bridge is on a whole other level. Brings back memories.”

The bee-man muttered something incomprehensible, but the warrior listened in silence.

“Anyway, how many troops are on the bridge?”

“Our unit is in charge of the bridge’s defense. Most are now gathered on the Dawn Fortress side.”

“So, there’s no enemy on the bridge all the way to Golden Dawn, huh?”

“Right. We’ve made some arrangements.”

“Great! Then everyone, climb up and let’s advance!”

Thus, the majority of the imperial army, which had barely reduced in numbers, lined up on the Dawn Bridge.

This was the betrayal of Masamune St. Clair, the last of the three great families.