Luke Jaworski is pointing his sword at them from the top of the stairs.

He is the second target they must eliminate at all costs and the enemy’s best fighting force.

And they already know from Noir Virginia that they can’t mock his attitude just because he’s boastful of it.

“Commander Sylvia…”

“I know. We’ll finish him off here.”

Gertrude calls her name, and Sylvia nods as if she understands.

Gertrude steps out of the way, and she readies her sword.

“Lady. Irijina, Marchioness Sylvia, can you help me?”

At her words, the two women who have been called to the front step forward.

“I have always wanted to fight a strong man,” Irijina says softly.

Right now, Irijina is silently burning with a fighting spirit. Meaning she can fight him to her heart’s content without worrying about anything.

On the other hand, Sylvia, with whom the Luke Jaworski has a history with, has a look of disgust on her face.

“Wow. I can see that he’s determined to kill you like crazy. I’m getting cold sweats just from his stare." Gertrude teases her.

It is true that he has been looking at Sylvia with one that could kill since she came out.

Frankly, no one want to stand in front of that stare.

"You’re finally out, little girl. Your death will not be easy.”

“Ugh, I’m seriously getting chills… Let’s get this over with quickly.” Gertrude says in serious tone.

The four of them go into battle stance together with the rest of the soldiers we had on hand.

The rebels outnumber them, but they are tired from fighting so hard.

In contrast, the other side is in pristine condition.

Moreover, almost all of the Luke’s personal troops are from the nobility or knightly class, meaning they are well trained.

But if they don’t defeat these guys, they won’t be able to reach Count Jaworski, who is probably above those stairs.

“Let’s get started.”

“Come at me, all three of you. You are all doomed to be cut down by my sword!”

The four jump out at once, three to one, and the soldiers behind also collide with each other.

Instantly, the entrance hall that welcomes guests became a battlefield.

***

“Hyaaaaaaaaaahh!!”

Luke swings his great sword with an intimidating shout.

Every blow delivered from his thick, bear-like arms gives more power than it appears.

“Ugghh… it’s heavier than I thought it would be.”

Gertrude groans as she manages to deflect a blow aimed at her with the considerably large sword she holds in both hands.

She is strong but still loses out on power.

In the first place, Luke has more innate power than Gertrude.

Together with the difference between the stature of men and women, added to their difference in their trained bodies, all of those cannot be just overturned just by having more numbers.

But this battle is not a one-on-one duel.

“――!!”

Just now, Irijina’s spear is thrust into his back with a silent fervor.

The spear is large that it is unthinkable it could be welded in a thin woman’s arms in the common sense of Earth.

“Even a single blow would be fatal, but…”

“Naïve, heathen!”

He just turna around and catches the tip of the spear with the thick body of his great sword.

“It’s not over yet!”

Irijina immediately withdraws her spear and instead steps forward and launches a kick.

The blow, which could shake even a three-meter-tall ogre, forces the man to retreat.

“Guhu… above!?”

Sensing the danger, Luke jumps back.

The moment he jumps, he sees countless icicles sticking out of the place where his body has been just a few moments before.

The icicles are sharper than the ones that have formed naturally and would have inflicted as much damage as Irijina’s spear have they pierced it.

Another girl appears behind the girls. It is Selene. Mirai is behind her.

"Sorry, girls..I have reached my limit." Selene falls on her knees.

"Elf? A real elf?" Luke frowns at the sight of a rare elven girl.

"Lightning."

An electricity in the shape of a sword strikes his position but he barely dodges.

“Oh my, your instincts are as sharp as a wild animal’s. No, maybe even sharper?”

"Little girl..So, you are also a sorceress. A noble daughter is actually a mage. The church might be interested in this."

Sylvia seems a little frustrated as he was able to avoid the consecutive attacks from his blind spot.

“Hmph. I’ve been fighting in the army since before you were borne. It is easy for me to sense your leaking murderous intent.”

He replies in his usual arrogant manner, but neither of the girls deny it.

It is true. He had already been active in the military before the girls were borne.

Once again, Luke steps toward Gertrude, unleashing a vertical slice as he goes.

Even if she is clad in sheet metal armor, she won’t be immune from this lethal blow, even if you receive it with her sword in hand.

But Gertrude stays calm; rather, she even faces his slash with her own.

The exasperated man swings his sword sideways as if to slice through Gertrude’s body.

“And that’s where you’re wrong!”

She repels it by matching the cut-up from below.

But the next moment, she realizes her blunder.

“-!? A dagger!?”

The big man is wielding his large great sword with one hand, while Gertrude is holding her sword with both hands.

Once his left hand is in a blind spot from her, he pulls out a dagger hidden behind his waist.

“Did you think I wouldn’t try to pull the wool over your eyes? You’ll be sorry in the afterlife!”

It is only a small dagger with a blade of about ten centimeters, but it is perfect for concealing and enough to kill a man.

What’s worse is that Gertrude, though she’s wearing armor, it is not the type that covers her entire body with it so as not to hinder her agility.

“Ah…”

The metal’s dull glow approaching her body prevents Gertrude from reacting in time.

But just before the blade reaches her, something white covered her vision.

“I won’t let you!”

It is Irijina who saves Gertrude with her own body.

“Ugh!!”

The knife blade pierces halfway into her side as compensation.

“Guh, I must have hit a rib!”

Luke realizes from the response of his blade that he has failed to deliver a fatal blow.

But Irijina does not stop there.

“This is payback!”

Irijina, wounded but still holding her spear short, immediately thrust out.

He quickly jumps back to avoid it, but....

"Lightning.'

Sylvia's magical attack lands on him.

"Urgghh!"

He is hurt but still sturdy.

Irijina's thrust hit his neck. A lot of blood splashes from his head.

"Come, let’s end this for good!”

When he is far enough away from them, Sylvia releases high-voltage thunderbolt magic on the place he will land.

"Grand Lightning!"

“Guuh, nhhooooo!”

Even the mighty man could not avoid it and is wounded, but his fighting spirit wlis yet to be exhausted.

He then points his sword at Sylvia with a vindictive look in his eyes.

You… wait until I kill you…!!”

“No, it ends here!!”

With an interruptive response, Gertrude jumps out from behind the wounded Irijina as if waiting for the moment when the enemy’s attention is diverted.

You dare, girl!”

He turns around and cut Gertrude down with his sword.

But she parries the blow and continues on her way.

“What?!”

His powerful attack is repelled by the opponent he had just been overpowering a while ago.

This is because his power had been paralyzed by Sylvia’s thunderbolt magic, making him unable to use his strength as much as he wanted.

In that short gap created by him, Gertrude delivers a fatal blow.

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Her sword, thrust out with great fervor, pierces his chest in a straight line.

His movements became rigid, and fresh blood pours from the wound.

“I’ll… you…!!”

"!?”

But just before he dies, his body moves again.

He throws the greatsword in his right hand. The one at the end of it is Sylvia.

“Sylvia!”

“You’ve got to be kidding!”

Even with Gertrude’s screams, Sylvia, who has been caught off guard thinking it is over, could not move quickly enough.

"Teleportation."

Sylvia suddenly disappears. In her place, a smaller body appears. It is Mirai.

Then a large sword as heavy as a child’s weight spins and plunges at her body.

Luckily, as Mirai's body is smaller, the sword only slashes past her shoulder. 

They were already on the run when the Luke’s final blow struck Mirai.

As they approach her in a cold sweat, they see that Mirai has fallen limp.

However, no fatal wound could be seen on her body.

“Mirai, are you all right?”

“Guh, cough… this level won’t kill me. But that really did some damage.”

Although it did not penetrate, the impact of that massive mass colliding with her body must have been unbearable.

Mirai is not going to be able to move for a while.

“Irijina, are you all right over there?”

It was then that Selene, who has helped Irijina up, arrives.

irijina is not fatally wounded, but continuing the battle with her wounded body would be impossible.

“Yeah, we’re okay. But moving both of them to the rear first would be better.”

Looking around, the battle in the entrance hall had been settled with a victory for our side.

The soldiers of the xount, who surrendered upon the death of their commander, are taken prisoner and sent outside with the wounded.

The walls and gates have already fallen into rebels' hands, and all that remains is the Count Jaworski on top.