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When I received the report of the enemy attack, I was in the middle of reviewing the security plan for Lüenheit with Aylia and the others.
According to reports from the dog-men soldiers, it seems the outer West Gate and East Gate of Lüenheit ’s double walls were destroyed simultaneously.

“Also, enemies are approaching the East Gate! There are three thousand of them! Old Wott told me they’re mercenaries!”

So, does that mean the West Gate was a diversion? …Even I wouldn’t think something like that. I’m not falling for that trick again.
Seeing how frequent she is using bluffs, Princess Eleora must be short on available forces.
If the West Gate really were a diversion, they’d blow it up first and then blow up the East Gate a little later.
She has a magical device that works like a radio, so something like that should be possible for her.

But the fact that they’re blowing them up simultaneously means they don’t want to concentrate too many Lüenheit forces at the West Gate. It’s obvious they’re trying to say, “We want you to spread your forces to the East Gate as well.”

Aylia crouched down and asked the messenger dog-man.

“Are there only mercenaries at the East Gate?”
“Yes! It looks like there are no knights. And the Ma…thing Battalion isn’t there either! Old Wott said so!”

His tone was halting, but his answer hit the key points.

Aylia falls deep in thought as she puts on the breastplate and cloak brought by her maid.

“I don’t think the mercenaries are the main force.”
“I agree, Lady Aylia.”

Miraldia’s mercenaries aren’t exactly top-tier troops.
Until recently, the country hadn’t experienced war for a long time, so the mercenaries had mainly faced bandits and wild monsters. In large-scale group battles involving over a thousand soldiers, they’re clearly inferior to professional soldiers.

“The main target is the West Gate. Send the Werewolf Squad there.”

I’ve learned a great deal from Princess Eleora’s tactics.
Her style involves using plenty of feints before landing a decisive blow.
To the west of Lüenheit lies a forest where people gather firewood and other supplies. It’s the same forest where we used to hide our skeleton soldiers.
Since there’s nothing there now, it should be plenty of space to hide a small number of troops.

In that case, Aylia is the one we need to protect. The Demon Lord is currently out on an errand, and there are no other important figures here.

“Lord Wengen, I’m entrusting the Guard to defend the Old Town. Ensure Lady Aylia’s personal safety and the protection of the citizens.”

Guard Captain Vengen immediately stood at attention and saluted.

“Leave it to me, Lord Vait.”

I gather the Werewolf Squad with a howl and issue this command:

“The enemy is heading for the Old Town. If we bunch up, we’ll get shot, so lie in wait in squads. Just as we trained.”

Everyone nods.
Sister Fern, Jerich, Monsa, the Garne brothers, Hammarn, and Old Wott.
…Huh? Where’d Old Wott go?

Just then, Old Wott came running toward us, still in his werewolf form.

“Sorry I’m late. I was keeping watch at the East Gate.”
“Ah, as long as you’re safe, that’s all that matters. I was worried about you.”

Even though he’s a veteran former mercenary, he is getting on in years.
Then the battle-hardened werewolf with white fur laughed as if amused.

“What’s up, Old Wott?”
“Oh, nothing. I’m just happy to be fighting again after so long.”

Everyone in the werewolf squad smiled at those words.
They all love to fight. I can’t quite keep up with that mindset.
Sometimes, I’m reminded that I’m the only one here who’s human at heart.
But right now, I’m counting on everyone’s strength.

I cast a new spell on everyone in the werewolf squad—one I’d just learned from Master.
It’s a magic version of the “Arrow Evasion” spell I used before.

“Listen up. This spell can block any type of magic—but only once.”
“What do you mean, a spell that blocks magic, bro?”
“You know, like magic that makes magic not work, so the magic…”

Since the Garne brothers were already getting confused, I simplified my explanation a bit.

“The enemy’s weapon is a ranged weapon that fires magic arrows, but I’ll set it up so you can block just one shot. Get out of there before you take the second one, got it?”
“Yeah!”
“That’s awesome! Cast that on me about five times!”

No matter how many times I cast it, it’ll only block one shot.

Once I’d safely cast the spell on everyone, I dashed off toward the New Town with the rest of the group.

“By the way, which squad is in charge of Veit duty today?”
“Mine.”

In response to Jerich’s question, Monsa raised her hand and laughed.
I’d wanted to go see Princess Eleora on my own, but oh well.

“All right, Monsa Squad, follow me! All other squads, fan out!”

At my command, the 52 members of the 13 Werewolf Corps squads—excluding Monsa Squad—scatter.
With this, the western side of the New Town is now completely the Werewolves’ hunting ground.

The New Town is a new district where humans and demons live together, but it also serves as a defensive facility to protect the Old Town.
At various points along the road leading to the Old Town’s gates, there are corners and watchtowers ideal for ambushes.
If the enemy’s objective is to storm the Old Town, they’ll have to break through a road littered with bloodthirsty werewolves and post-apocalyptic mohawks lying in wait.

The Belrusa Land Force was already engaged in fierce combat across the area, delaying the enemy’s advance.
While the Magiarms Battalion likely had superior firepower, the Belrusa Land Force numbered over five hundred. Their tactic of retreating while luring the enemy into ambush points seemed to be working so far.

Escorted by the Monsa Squad, I bypassed the main battlefield and headed for the western outer gate. My hunch was that Princess Eleora was hiding in the western forest.
Just then, a group of enemies suddenly appeared from a bend in the road a short distance away.

“Ah!?”

Enemy infantrymen, their magiarms staffs at the ready, let out startled cries upon seeing us. It seemed they, too, had been bypassing the main battlefield and heading for the inner gate leading to the Old Town.
We had noticed their approach before they did, but they were still some distance away.

“Charge!”

Monza shouts. It seems she’s determined to wipe out the enemy, fully prepared to take a hit or two.
I started running too, but the enemy deployed quickly. They opened fire across a wide area, cutting off any escape routes.
Unsurprisingly, we couldn’t dodge them all, and Monsa and I—who were in the lead—each took a hit.
But there won’t be a second time.

That magiarm staff is just like a gun. It can only attack in the direction the muzzle is pointing.
The enemies are divided into a front row crouching to fire and a back row standing to fire. The ones who just fired were from the back row. They’re currently reloading their magic.
The enemies in the front row are still in firing positions, but they can’t keep up with my magic-enhanced speed. Since I’m running in an erratic zigzag pattern, all the magiarm staffs’ muzzles are off-target.
But half of them weren’t aiming at me—they were targeting Monsa behind me.
This is bad.
She can’t move as quickly as I can.

The spell I cast on Monsa to deflect magic has already worn off.
I could see magical energy spilling from the muzzles of their staffs.
If she gets hit by that, Monsa will die.
Whether by magic or direct attack, I won’t have time to wipe out the enemy’s rear ranks.

“Monsa!”

I shouted and instinctively shielded Monsa with my body.

“Yikes!?”

She let out a strange scream and stopped in her tracks almost at the same moment the magiarms staff fired.
I couldn’t dodge in time and took a direct hit from the beam of light fired by the staff.
I’m done for.

But I had a high-speed emergency healing spell cast on me.
As long as I don’t die, I’ll be okay… or so I thoughyt, but I didn’t even sustain a single injury.

“Huh?”

Still holding Monsa—who had turned back into a human, perhaps out of surprise—I turned to face the enemy behind me.
Did it misfire?
Before I even had time to think that, light projectiles were fired one after another from their magiarm staffs.
Even I couldn’t dodge magic bullets fired at the speed of light.

But sure enough, I was unscathed.
Or rather, instead of injuring me, these bullets are recovering my mana.
Casting enhancement magic for fifty-six people had left me incredibly exhausted, but now I was brimming with mana.
I have absolutely no idea why, but as a mage, there’s one thing I can say with certainty.
When I’m hit by an attack from a magiarms staff, I absorb its mana.

“Everyone, fall back! I’ll handle this!”

I gave the order to the members of Monsa’s squad and entrusted Monsa to them.
For us demons, the orders of the strong are absolute. The werewolves looked uneasy, but they obeyed my command immediately.

I glared at the enemies ahead. It’s a squad of ten: five in the front row in a kneeling firing stance and five in the back row standing with their magiarm staffs at the ready.

“Squad Leader, the magiarms staff isn’t working on him!”
“Don’t flinch! Everything alive can be killed! Finish him off with a volley!”

As I listened to their voices, I paused to think for a moment.

Come to think of it, I had a similar sensation when I broke the “Werewolf Slayer” greatsword.
Could it be that I’ve developed a constitution that allows me to absorb magic, just like master? Maybe it’s because I was with her when she opened her Last Door.
This is quite interesting. When I get back, I’ll run a few experiments, compile a report, and submit it to master.
Just as I was thinking that, I was hit again.

“Fire!”

A burst of light flashed, hitting me incessantly
Yeah, my mana is recovering.
Ah, this actually works pretty well. In the opposite way, though.

The magiarms staff, that supposedly terrifying new weapon, doesn’t just fail to affect me—it actually seems to serve as a source of mana for me.
It struck me as funny that I’d been so scared of it, and I found myself laughing as I strode confidently toward them.

“C-Captain! That’s him!”
“Rear ranks, keep firing! Front ranks, draw your swords!”

Ah, wait, wait.

While magical attacks don’t seem to attack me, getting slashed by a sword hurts.
I close the distance and decide to take out the five soldiers in the front row all at once.

“Y-YOU MONSTER!”
“WAAH!”

The soldiers of the Magiarms Battalion had drawn their short swords, but they seemed unaccustomed to handling them. It was nothing compared to the lightning-fast swordplay of the Lüenheit Guard.
To a werewolf’s keen wolf-like eyesight, their short swords seemed to approach in slow motion.

I landed a series of jabs, carefully holding back so as not to kill them, and took down five of them in quick succession.
While being struck repeatedly by their magiarm staffs, I knocked out the remaining five one by one. They probably have a few cracked bones, but I’ll heal them all once this is over.

“It’s over. Restrain them.”

　As soon as I said that, Monsa and the others rushed over.

“Whoa… Commander, that was amazing. I’m totally blown away.”
“Nah, me too.”
“Oh, really?”

Monsa laughed as she deftly tied up the fallen enemy soldiers with rope.

She looked up at me and gave a slightly shy smile.

“Thanks for protecting me, Commander. Sorry for holding you back.”
“Why are you apologizing? It’s only natural for me to protect you.”
“Hehe, really?”

It was a carefree smile. Even after going through such a scary ordeal, that’s Monsa for you.

“Judging the situation, can I leave these guys to you?”
“Huh? No, you can’t do that, Commander!? Fern will get mad at me…”

Monsa looked flustered for once, but I just waved her off without a second thought.

“We’ll use them for intel and negotiations. Don’t kill them, okay?”

Without waiting for a reply, I took off running.
All right, I’m a free man.