Under the Falmus Kingdom's cavalry charge, not only did they fail to achieve even the slightest result—they suffered catastrophic casualties instead.
"Ren-sama… you've always told us not to slaughter humans indiscriminately," the Samurai Spirit said cautiously as he watched the earthbound spirits cutting loose without restraint. He turned toward Ren, his expression a little uneasy."Given the circumstances, though… this should be acceptable, right?"
After all, the earthbound spirits had been summoned by him. If Ren were displeased, he would be the one taking the heat.
"They're trying to kill us outright," Ren replied calmly. "If we still held back at a time like this, wouldn't that make me a true saintly fool?"He waved a hand dismissively."Go all out. I know exactly where the line is—I'm not that stupid. Just make sure you don't hurt innocent civilians in the city. And if any soldiers choose to surrender, you don't have to kill them."
For the ordinary people of Maris City, this disaster had come completely out of nowhere. Ren had no intention of venting his anger on them.
As for the soldiers—most of them were merely following orders, trapped at the bottom of the hierarchy. They had no say in the decisions of those in power. If they laid down their weapons, there was no need to wipe them out completely.
"Mage Corps—begin collective chanting! Prepare long-range bombardment!"
The failure of the cavalry charge was unexpected, but it didn't shake Fuken's composure.
They still had twenty thousand troops on the field. Losing a few hundred cavalrymen was hardly crippling. Reinforcements from other areas were still on the way—their odds remained favorable.
Since cavalry proved ineffective, Fuken shifted his hopes to the Mage Corps.
The area shrouded in yokai miasma was thick with fog. Charging in blindly was reckless—no one knew what traps might be waiting inside. If brute force couldn't break through, then ranged magic would blast the enemies hidden within.
It had to be said—Fuken's unique ability, "Commander," truly shined in moments like this.
Under its influence, soldiers of the Falmus Kingdom were incapable of fleeing due to fear or panic.
In warfare, discipline was everything. And Fuken's Commander ability was now operating at two hundred percent efficiency.
Take the Mage Corps, for example. Under normal circumstances, synchronizing chants to cast spells simultaneously was extremely difficult.
Yet under Fuken's command, their chanting achieved perfect synchronization.
Unfortunately, what Fuken didn't anticipate was that the Mage Corps—into which he had placed such high hopes—would once again fail to deliver results before disaster struck.
As the mages focused entirely on their chanting, oblivious to the danger beneath their feet, Razan was the first to sense fluctuations in mana surging up from underground.
He opened his mouth to warn them—
Too late.
Countless strands of hooked hair erupted from the ground like crazed thorny vines, instantly piercing through the defenseless Mage Corps.
By the time over half of the mages had been slaughtered by Hook-Needle Woman's ability, the kingdom's strongest mage finally made his move.
A single high-tier fire spell incinerated her hair in an instant.
That strike was like the horn signaling total war.
Both sides exploded into action.
Ren's yokai army abandoned passive defense and surged forward.
The battle had truly begun.
Agile cat yokai darted through the Falmus ranks like shadow assassins, harvesting lives with ruthless efficiency.
The massive spiders charged like heavily armored siege vehicles, crashing through the crowds. Their six spear-like legs swept again and again, each strike effortlessly taking down waves of soldiers.
Most Falmus soldiers found that their weapons couldn't even pierce the spiders' bristling hairs.
Earthbound spirits drifted across every corner of the battlefield, warping terrain at will and plunging countless soldiers into desperate situations.
From the very start, this fight had been grossly unequal.
Yes—the Falmus Kingdom had numbers.
But when the gap in individual power was this overwhelming, numerical advantage meant absolutely nothing.
Despite the ferocity of the battle, Ren's side was astonishingly relaxed.
As the sovereign of the battlefield, Ren himself didn't even need to fight. He sat calmly at the rear, chatting with the little girl as if this were a picnic.
At first, the girl's mother had been certain they were going to die that day.
But after witnessing Ren summon monster after monster and watching the Falmus army get crushed, she was completely stunned.
She had heard stories—legends of heroes who could stand against entire nations alone.
She'd always believed they were fairy tales meant to deceive children.
Only today, after seeing Ren with her own eyes, did she realize—
Not all stories were lies.
As the battle dragged on, Fuken's previously steady mindset began to crack.
His Commander ability allowed him to perfectly coordinate and mobilize troops—but ordinary humans facing powerful monsters were simply at too great a disadvantage.
At first, Fuken had believed that even if soldiers died, he could still command their corpses through his ability. Defeat, in his mind, was impossible.
Reality proved otherwise.
Very few fallen soldiers' bodies remained on the battlefield.
Most were dragged into underground nests by the spider monsters—stored away as food.
Falmus soldiers continued to fall in droves, while the number of dead monsters on Ren's side could be counted on one hand.
The Commander's ability to "recycle" fallen troops was rendered useless.
Though reinforcements kept arriving, at this rate, Falmus would be the first to collapse.
And beyond the lesser monsters—
The ten great yokai Ren had originally summoned had now joined the fray.
On the Falmus side, aside from Razan, Tachibana Kyouya, and Fuken, there was a glaring lack of top-tier fighters.
The Samurai Spirit once again engaged Tachibana Kyouya.Spider Princess confronted Razan.Nekomata locked down Fuken.
As for the rest—it was like tigers rampaging through a flock of sheep.
The so-called elite troops were nothing but side dishes before Hand-Washing Demon and the others.
With chaos erupting on such a scale in Maris City, King Edmaris Falmus, who had been sleeping soundly with beauties in his arms, was quickly awakened by frantic guards.
Earlier, he'd been informed that Razan and Fuken had discovered enemy assassins.
He hadn't taken it seriously.
After all, Falmus possessed one of the strongest militaries in the region, plus its guardian deity Razan and the undefeated knight commander Fuken.
To him, mere enemy assassins were nothing worth worrying about.
But when he was awakened a second time, what greeted him wasn't good news—
It was an emergency report.
"What did you say?!" Edmaris shouted."Over ten thousand casualties, and we're still at a disadvantage?!"
His irritation vanished instantly, replaced by shock.
"Our kingdom has over fifty thousand troops stationed in and around Maris!And we have Razan, Fuken, and even Taguchi Shogo's group! I was told there were only a few enemy spies!With this much force, how could we not only fail to deal with them—but end up in crisis instead?!"
Had anyone else been commanding the army, Edmaris would have flown into a rage.
But knowing it was Razan and Fuken, his first thought was—
The enemy must have sent reinforcements.
Razan was the very reason Falmus had risen to its current status.And under Fuken's command, the army was nearly always victorious.
For both to be struggling—and with such losses—only one explanation made sense.
"Summon High Archbishop Reshim immediately," Edmaris ordered."And gather all ministers. We're holding an emergency council."
With Maris on the verge of collapse, sleep was the last thing on his mind.
In truth, even without the king's summons, the noble ministers were already heading for the palace.
Unfortunately, these corrupt aristocrats had yet to grasp the gravity of the situation.
They knew Razan and Fuken were fighting in Maris—but like the king, they had absolute confidence in Falmus.
Their reason for rushing to the palace?
To complain.
The influx of soldiers had disrupted their businesses, damaging their profits. They believed Razan and Fuken should compensate them for their losses.
Truly fitting for a nation like this.
A greedy king—and ministers just as rotten.
While Maris burned and soldiers died by the thousands, these nobles didn't care in the slightest.
All that mattered was their own wealth.
As the ministers flooded into the palace, they began loudly listing their financial losses—before Edmaris had even explained why they'd been summoned.
"Enough!" the king roared."Shut up, all of you! If anyone's suffered the greatest loss, it's me—over ten thousand elite soldiers!The battle is still deadlocked! I called you here for solutions—not to listen to your complaints!"