Prina, drawing lines on the dirt floor with her sword to organize her thoughts, began to explain the operation to me.
It was not complicated; in fact, it was very simple.
“Will this work?”
“After all, there are many variables on the battlefield.”
Ultimately, it would depend on how to deal with the undead commanders.
Prina set the target for this raid as each knight order taking down one undead commander.
I was seriously worried if the members would be able to confront the enemy commander in their current condition.
Jie and Iwaf were in good shape, but Riki was the problem.
His body was not normal due to the side effects of the cursed sword.
However, leaving him out would create a significant gap in our strength.
“Although he is not part of the knight order, can we take the elf who came to support us?”
“As long as they don’t get in the way.”
With Melorna’s skills, I anticipated she could adequately assist the members.
We decided to conduct the raid tomorrow evening.
Prina sought my understanding, as two of her members could only display their skills at night.
“There are also people on our side who prefer the night, so it should be fine.”
According to the operation plan, I explained to Prina the information I had on the undead legion.
When I mentioned the commander who leads them and the officers who manage them, Prina’s expression became very serious.
“Hmm. I see. In that case…”
A pair of ears appeared above Prina as she seemed to think deeply.
Before I knew it, a tail had also emerged and was swaying erratically from side to side.
Up until now, I had thought Prina was human.
“You’re a beastman?”
“Y-Yes! Ah!”
Prina hurriedly adjusted her ears and tail to hide them from sight.
“Is there a special reason you’re hiding them?”
“Actually, I’m mixed-blood.”
“What problem does that cause?”
In Roran, being mixed-blood is certainly not a flaw to be hidden.
Prina cautiously revealed her ears and tail.
Her appearance was nothing special, and I didn’t think it was particularly odd.
After a moment, Prina’s eyes turned bright red, and horns and wings began to grow.
“When I was a child, only the beastman form manifested, but as I grew older, the demon blood became stronger.”
It seems that as one matures, they can maintain one of the forms on their own.
Since Prina couldn’t do that yet, she had a bizarre appearance due to the mix.
I could fully understand her desire to wander around in human form.
I think I also find the human form more familiar than the awkward dragon form.
Returning to her original appearance, Prina stopped drawing on the floor.
“If we capture the officers, we win, right?”
“It won’t be easy. Officers are much stronger than ordinary commanders.”
Without the help of Last Ape, it might have been impossible for me to defeat the necromancer alone.
The strength of the commanders is also a major problem.
In particular, the giant that appeared this time was very different from the skeleton commanders we had faced before.
Not only did it possess excellent skills, but it also seemed capable of using magic to some extent.
When I explained about the giant to Prina, she listened with an innocent expression as if hearing a fairy tale.
“So giants really do exist.”
It seems that until the undead legion appeared, giants had not existed in this world.
“The giant has the skill level that could be considered a magic swordsman.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
After the meeting, Prina returned to her tent.
I stayed behind in the training area because I had something I wanted to practice.
The lightning compression technique that had blown off one of the giant’s arms.
Its power was outstanding, but it had the drawback of taking time to compress.
Hitting one shot while the opponent is unaware would be a great help, but if it misses, there’s no second chance.
In terms of feel, it takes at least one minute to compress to achieve that level of power.
If I try to compress it while moving, that time extends several times longer.
If I could find a way to compress and shoot it quickly, it would become a good weapon.
Sitting in a corner of the training ground, I created lightning with refined mana.
Crackle!
I began to compress the lightning that was trying to bounce all over the place.
As I continued to compress until I could do no more, it became a sphere the size of my palm.
Previously, I had used it by storing it in Last Ape, but it seemed that this is how it looks when simply compressed.
I held the sphere in my hand and pulled the power contained within it outwards.
The target was the sky.
In an instant, the lightning shot straight up into the sky.
Even upon review, the power was the strongest among the magic I had used so far.
I had no idea what I needed to do to improve the drawback.
I thought perhaps I could just compress it quickly and tried doing that.
However, as I hastily compressed it, the lightning began to leak out midway.
In the end, I realized that I had to compress it slowly and with concentration.
It seemed unlikely that I could resolve it in a short amount of time.
I decided to call it a day and returned to my tent.
Upon returning to the tent, I explained to the members that we would be launching the raid, as well as the plan I made with Prina.
All the members listened quietly, but one person was fidgeting.
“Why am I part of the knight order’s operation…”
Melorna expressed her confusion as to why she was included in the knight order’s operation.
Currently, Riki’s condition could not be considered normal.
Since it was unknown how long the side effects of the cursed sword would last, we needed soldiers to fill that gap.
Fortunately, Melorna had just the right level of skill, so I thought it might work out somehow.
After resting for about a day, I asked Riki more detailed questions about the cursed sword.
“This sword was half-buried in a cave deep in the mountains.”
“What are the conditions for using it?”
“Do you plan on using the cursed sword?”
“No.”
I didn’t particularly need to use the cursed sword since I had Last Ape.
It was simply curiosity about the cursed sword.
“At first, I didn’t realize it was a cursed sword. When I held the sword, it started communicating with me in my head.”
“Can you have a conversation?”
“No. It just communicates unilaterally. It tells me to give it power and slay the enemy, that sort of thing.”
It seems that if I don’t listen while it’s talking to me, it gradually restricts my physical abilities.
When a demon uses it, the manifestation of its effects is delayed, but for humans, it happens much quicker.
“Isn’t that a bad thing?”
“I thought so too. However, once you overcome this restriction, you finally become the true owner of the sword.”
“Who told you that?”
“Who would you consult about a cursed sword?”
I guessed that both Riki and I were thinking about the same person at that moment.
Riki clarified that the cursed sword wasn’t a simple object that drives its user insane.
It’s an item that grants trials to the user and offers growth opportunities to those who overcome those trials.
The trials vary widely among the cursed swords.
Worried, I cautiously asked Riki if the raid operation was feasible.
“It is possible. I won’t be using the cursed sword the whole time.”
Riki performed excellently in battle with the giant despite being restricted in physical abilities due to the cursed sword.
Besides, since he wasn’t alone and was with teammates, I felt there was no need for concern.
The next morning, I looked down at the base from the sky.
Though it was located in the mountains, there was nothing particularly hidden or camouflaged, so it seemed the enemy could easily spot it.
As I shifted my view further, I saw a city surrounded by castle walls, albeit small.
This was the city we would be raiding today.
Though small in scale, this elite raid would deal a significant blow to them.
I wanted to summon Last Ape and deal with them swiftly, but that was currently impossible.
On the day I dealt with the necromancer, Last Ape had advised me to be careful when summoning.
Once summoned, it would take a set amount of time before it could be summoned at full power again.
That required a minimum of one month.
If summoned during that period, it would come at less than half of its full strength.
This meant I couldn’t just summon it every time I wanted.
Setting aside my regret, I descended to the training ground.
We were set to move around lunchtime, so there was still some time to spare.
During this time, I practiced swinging my sword in the training ground.
At some point, Melorna was swinging her sword nearby.
“You’re moving a lot more naturally now.”
It felt rewarding to have repeated the same movements since morning.
It’s been quite a while since I moved my body like this.
Magic training mostly involves raising mental power to the limit while remaining in place.
Swordplay, on the other hand, felt like you could clear your mind and just move your body.
When the departure time arrived, the personnel gathered together.
Ten members from the 2nd and 7th knight orders, including their leaders.
Two members from the 7th knight order were covered from head to toe in thick cloaks.
Those two were likely the members who preferred night over day.
We could tell because we also had someone dressed similarly.
“You’re the elf who came to support us.”
“Yes, I’m Melorna.”
As Melorna bowed to greet, a short gasp escaped from a member of the 7th knight order.
“You’re quite unlike an elf.”
“I hear that a lot.”
Leon was waiting at the front gate of the base.
He didn’t give any specific advice, just told us to do well.
As we received Leon’s farewell, we departed the base.
Melorna, who was well-acquainted with the forest paths, led us.
The three cloaked individuals were conversing without looking at one another.
I couldn’t hear the details since their voices were low, but it was clear they were using honorifics towards Iwaf.
The sunlight filtered through the leaves of the densely wooded forest.
Once we emerged from the somewhat dark woods, the intense sunlight poured down.
We had exited the forest.
“My guidance ends here. I don’t know the way from here.”
“Good job. We’ll guide ourselves from here.”
Prina took out a map from her pack and started walking.
Looking at the map from slightly behind, I noticed it was reversed.
I gently asked to take a look at the map and turned it right.
Only then did Prina seem to realize her mistake, and her face turned slightly red.
“Thank you.”
In a voice so small that others couldn’t hear, Prina expressed her gratitude to me.
Even though she held the map upside down, it seemed that Prina was somewhat familiar with the geography around here.
“If we walk, we should reach the city by evening.”
“Wouldn’t it be good for those who can fly to scout ahead?”
“There are no flying demons in our knight order.”
While Prina had wings, it seemed she didn’t want to use them right now.
I took a fleeting glance at Iwaf.
“I don’t want to fly due to the sunlight.”
“It seems even if we could, we wouldn’t want to.”
We arrived as if we were going on a picnic.
Staring at the castle wall, which was painted by the evening glow, I felt no sense of war at all.
I questioned why the castle walls weren’t significantly damaged even though they were subjected to an aerial assault.
“I’ll take a quick look from above.”
I flew up, enhancing my power to survey beyond the walls.
I could see small white dots moving slowly.
To my surprise, the enemy’s numbers were quite considerable.
I conveyed signals to Prina below using my hands and arms.
Just as the undead attacked the city with an aerial assault, our raid would also begin with an aerial assault.
