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Technically, it’s possible to access the western base from the east and west, but doing so would require climbing a bare mountain without any route towards the ridge, significantly slowing down the advance and making the troops easy targets from the base.

There was also a high possibility that traps had been set up, and it wasn’t something you could hope to tread just because you had the conviction to make it through even if it meant sustaining heavy injuries even when you had the upper hand.

But of course, Bester had prepared a countermeasure plan just in case.

Maxim, the battalion commander, was personally leading his company to raid the western base.

Stella, Sophie, and Viz confronted this charge head-on at the strategic spot of the fan-shaped forest where the structure of the fan converged.

Directly behind them was the western base, and if this position were to be breached, the base would likely fall immediately.

After 30 minutes of combat, when fatigue had begun to show in Sophie and Viz’s faces, Kate and Parry stepped in to take over.

"Viz, Sophie. Fall back for now and keep watch on the east and west. Parry and I will take over! Stella, are you okay?"

"Oh! This isn’t even warm up for me!"

The momentum of the battle, which had been slightly against them, was pushed back due to this change.

◆◆◆

“Hoho! She’s been holding the front line for an hour now! Well, I knew my genius Stella would be able to pull that! That\'s my niece! Isn’t she a stunner?! But don’t fall for her, now!"

The adjutant standing nearby gave a wry smile and nodded in agreement.

"…Her performance truly reflects why she is called the one of a kind genius of the Achilies family, known for their bravery ever since their founding. At her age, such incredible skill and boundless stamina is truly remarkable. Everything adds to how troublesome of a foe she is when on the opposite side, though this just makes me further anticipate the moment when she would be fighting alongside us."

“You bet! She’s going to be a terror in the hearts of so many enemies! You might not be able to see clearly from here, but she has the makings of becoming a terrifying beauty too!”

Just as Maxim was proudly boasting about his niece, his expression melting into that of a doting uncle, the reinforcements he had requested from the headquarters set up at the northern base arrived.

"Battalion Commander Maxim! The reinforcements are here!"

Maxim\'s vanguard company had already lost nearly half of its men, forced into combat in a narrow area against skilled opponents.

Of course, there wasn’t any actual death. Those whose weapons were knocked out of their hands, who had a blade placed at a vital spot like their necks, or were knocked unconscious with a blunt strike, were considered "dead" and were required to withdraw to a designated area where they could no longer participate in the battle.

The number of these "deaths" had already reached nearly half of the company.

"Good work. What’s the situation elsewhere?"

The captain of the reinforcement company reported.

"Sir. The situation is… pretty much the same everywhere. The enemy is using the terrain to limit our numbers and engage us in direct combat on all fronts."

When Maxim heard that, he almost fell face first.

The enemy, despite their significantly smaller number, were clashing with them head-on, which meant they would inevitably be ground down in time.

"…Are there any specific instructions from Sir Godorfun?"

"Yes, sir. He said to be wary of flanking attacks and left the decision on how to handle the situation to you."

Maxim groaned thoughtfully.

Flanking attacks or not, the enemy force had no more than 20 people.

He didn’t know how many Stella’s team had stationed at the western base, but if they had divided their forces into three groups, there would be about six or seven at each base.

Just from what he could see, five of them were already inside the western base.

So he could allocate more of his company’s people on the west side and their enemy would still not get any success from flanking maneuvers.

This was because there was a wide forest in front of the western base, and even though the exit was narrow, there was still enough space to deploy two full companies there (though they only had one and a half left of the original count).

In that case, there only remained one truth: this western base was a sacrificial pawn, meant to buy time.

So Maxim’s decision was—

"I\'ll take the helm! I\'ll take on Stella myself. Mashii and Romeo, you two handle the remaining two. Traude, you take over command from here! Remember, don\'t give them any time to rest even if we fail, and keep pushing through to the western base. Even if we fall, don’t give them any time to rest and aim to retake it. Keep pushing and seize this western base, then charge straight to the southern base!"

Maxim set aside his personal feelings and focused on what was best for the overall strategy as he issued his orders.

After deploying the newly arrived company into the forest, he shouted loudly:

"I take you to be Stella Achilies! I, Maxim Achilies, the \'Fierce Tiger\' of the Torveil Army, will be your opponent! Let us have a fair duel—"

As he said this and swung his longsword effortlessly, rocks began to tumble down from the mountainside of the northern edge of the forest.

“Guggyaaaaaa—!!!”

Next, an incredible roar, reminiscent of a giant ape, echoed through the mountains, followed by a tremendous thundering sound as footsteps rapidly approached.

Thump-Thump-Thump-Thump-Thump!!!

Immediately after, he noticed the rapidly approaching footsteps almost causing the ground to tremble.

"Th-th–this is a monster stampede!"

Someone shouted in panic, and faintly, from beyond the chaos, a heavily accented voice could be heard, saying, "Tut-tut, you’re going the wrong way, aren’t ya?"

◆◆◆

Eastern Base

The eastern base commanded by Al was situated on a mountain trail that ran through the belly of the mountain, with the right side (to the east) being a mountain and the left side (to the west) being a valley. A river flowed through the valley below, and while it was possible to cross it, doing so during this season would severely drain both one\'s physical and magical reserves.

Furthermore, there was a waterfall downstream, making it impossible to advance without capturing the eastern base first.

The attacking force here was led by the subordinate, a company leader, of the red-haired woman Elan.

"It\'s too monotonous… We need to add some variety. Any ideas?"

The company leader asked his adjutant who was standing nearby.

Unlike the western base, there was no space to deploy the troops here at the eastern base.

Naturally, they were forced into a column formation, and despite their superior skill, the three who were defending the front line — Berd, Maggie, and Elena — were slowly being worn down by the attacking forces.

If they continued to press forward with brute force, it was only a matter of time before their opponents’ stamina ran out.

However, in this scenario, they were playing the role of an invading force crossing the border into another nation.

This was just the beginning. In this situation, they ideally would want to avoid the fate of losing too much force here.

But, more than anything, it felt eerie.

Their enemies’ line-up wasn’t bad, but would Royal Academy students, especially the elites of Class A, really accept a situation where they were bound to lose?

Of course, it was possible that they were simply unable to cope with the sudden increase in the number of attackers…

But he couldn’t shake off the feeling that they were being lured into attacking them.

Just as the thought flashed past his mind, Elan arrived with a reinforcement company from headquarters.

"I’ve heard that it’s a stalemate everywhere. They’re skillfully using the natural terrain to draw us into individual skirmishes."

"…It’s difficult to deal with them. If the enemy had forces holed up inside their base, we might consider risking it by sending archers or mages through the animal trail on the mountain path blocked by rocks, or along the river below. But the base is nearly empty. Even if we attack the area inside those awkwardly placed stakes, it won’t do us any good. The terrain itself acts like a fortress, making it impossible to simply run them through. It\'s a meticulously thought-out position."

It wasn\'t just the mountain paths, but any escape routes deemed unnecessary by Bester had been thoroughly blocked with rocks or had cliffs collapsed on them to seal them off.

Elan smiled wryly and nodded.

"This is the first time I’ve ever been stuck in a situation where the opponents aren’t even more than a handful. Godorfun-sama has given us free rein at this stage— whether to continue with fighting hard-fought battles or to employ some tricks. So, we need to decide our next move.”

Just as they pondered on this, a report came in from the rear that three more enemies had appeared.

"…A pincer attack? What’re they thinking, splitting their own forces up? If this turns into a war of attrition, they’ll be at a disadvantage. Once reinforcements arrive from headquarters, those three at the rear will be done for."

The company leader became silent, not knowing how to continue.

The company leader looked confused, but Elan thought for a moment and then raised her voice.

"Pay attention to the air on the left side. There\'s likely an enemy ambush coming! Raise your shields!"

However, just as Elan issued that command, a magic attack of flying stones and ice projectiles came from the valley side, leaving Elan bewildered. But she quickly gave orders to seize the opportunity.

"From below?!… What kind of idiot would place their important mage force there of all places!? Utter fools. Anyone with a path nearby, descend to the river! They’re trapped like rats! It’s time to take down those two mages!"

Following this command, several groups began to descend the mountain path toward the river.

At that moment, they heard a loud "Bang!" echoing from the front, followed by an explosion.

"!! They’ve set up exploding rocks! Don’t touch them!!"

This was "Earth Burst", a magic that used steam explosions unique to Dol in this world. Although its lethality was somewhat restrained, the unfamiliar and gut-wrenching sound it produced caused the two companies to instantly panic.

Dol continued to unleash “Earth Burst” upon the two companies that were stretched thin vertically.

Adding to this, Al threw similar stone projectiles matching his partner\'s timing, causing the companies to fall into complete disarray.

"Argh! Don’t push! You’re stepping on me!"

"Calm down! Half of you get down to the river! Spread out!"

Elan tried to restore order by shouting commands, but taking advantage of the chaos, Berd and his team, who had been holding the front line at the base, along with Fey, Coco, and Reggie, who had circled around behind, all circulated their body-strengthening magic to the peak and push them down.

"Ack! They’re coming from the front!"

"Don’t climb down, push them back!"

"Sorrryy! The pressure is too much to withstand!"

“You’re going to be blasted by that explosion magic either way if you come down, so just deal with that pressure!”

—However, it wasn’t so easy to regain control of the group once they had fallen into confusion.

Noticing how the soldiers at the top had been slowly going down, the others also scrambled to go down and tried to escape into the river.

“Don’t push! The slope is too cold for some reason! I said don’t push! It’s a path straight to the river if you push like that!”

Screams of such sort came out of the group who had been the first to drop into the river. However, they were quickly overpowered by the confused and shouting voices that erupted here and there.

E/N - Dang, I forgot one of his classmates literally invented landmine magic. Nice!