Two days ago, I advised the knights to use an invisibility spell. It wasn't very effective against a highly-skilled battle mage, but I figured that my shocking appearance alone would be enough to distract her. 

Before the time reversal, she had found pleasure in hunting me. Best case scenario, she'd be distracted by a new bigger prey, namely me. Worst case scenario, she'd lowered her guard down, thinking we took it easy on her.

Either way, the knights hiding in the bushes managed to ambush her just as I hoped them to.

The five water mages who faced her head-on were struggling as expected. Water mages and fire mages were supposed to be natural enemies, yet they didn't slow her down at all.

Well, she wouldn't get the title Mage of Fire Storm if she could be easily subdued like that. The only option left was to exhaust both her stamina and mana capacity. This was a battle of time.

I watched everything alone on the top of the mountain. The Commander had forbidden me from directly engaging with the enemy. It was a good decision on his part. If I joined the fray, I would just become a burden.

But still, I felt uneasy.

"Huan, what's the percentage of winning?"

||Gimme a sec||

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||0.2357908%||

...I had expected it, but it still stung. Under the rock mountain, Albertani soldiers were starting to fall one by one. It was as if I just repeated their first death all over again.

It was kind of nauseating.

"Is my plan a failure?" 

As if answering my question, I caught Dutro approaching me. He looked worse than the homeless people on the Kingdom's street. I didn't like the expression on his face at all. His eyes were red and tearful. A tough soldier crying in the middle of the battlefield meant he came with bad news.

He bowed.

Even if he was hurt and bleeding all over, he still didn't forget to pay respect to me like a loyal knight. I understood that, but I wished he got over the formality already.

"Your Highness, we have underestimated the enemy. Let's get you out of here."

I glanced at his bloodied armor, then at the soldiers fighting in the bottom.

"Huan, what's the percentage of my survival?"

"Your Highness?"

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||0.5648910%||

I unsheathed my sword. "Thank you for your concern, Dutro, but I will fight."

At this point, if there wasn't any point whether I fought or not, then I didn't want to run away.

"But, Your Highness-"

"Tell me what happened to Commander Range and his troops."

I climbed down the mountain and listened to Dutro's nervous chatters.

Apparently, Fentena Kingdom didn't just send their best mage. They also sent her prized disciples. I didn't know that. I was so focused on Derita that I hadn't considered the existence of other mages.

Commander Range was killed by one of them in the battle. Dutro told me this while holding back tears.

Ordinary swordsmen, no matter how strong they are, it's impossible for them to win against mages, I concluded grimly.

"Commander Range managed to take down two of those mages, but-"

I almost lost my balance. "Commander Range did?"

Now that I thought about it, I didn't know the extent of Commander Range's power in detail. They said that he was a genius swordsman, but I didn't expect him to be that strong...

I glanced around, observing the knights who still fought with their lives. Perhaps, if I placed them differently, there was still a chance of victory.

Dutro told me everything in detail dutifully, just like I ordered him to. I could hear his grief, rage, and devastation mixing together. 

He's a good storyteller, I noted. He could be a great storyteller in the future. The thought suffocated me for some reason.

The battlefield had become a fire blood bath. I stepped past the corpses rotting on the ground. In the center of this hell, Derita was laughing. She focused her sight on me as soon she saw me.

"Tell me." I held my sword upward. "Why is Fentena bothered to send you here?"

Derita smirked. "Because I insisted." She pointed her staff at me. "Because I was bored." 

Everything was hot and burning. I guessed the water mages had failed to hold her back.

Strangely enough, I felt calm. Or rather, I didn't feel anything. 

I charged forward. The last thing I saw was Derita's fire consuming everything.