Cass Brankovic led the invaders to try and surround Lazar’s army.

She decided to do that because she saw how small Lazar’s army was. Unlike the other battles, this time the time was on the defenders’ side.

The reason for their quick conquest of the north eastern region of Orlais was due to the sudden attack. Although Montbelliard and his faction ruled the demesnes surrounding the north eastern region, they couldn't stop the movement of anyone entering the region in turmoil. 

If anyone from beyond their territories came, they should immediately know about the foreign intrusion. 

The fact that the invaders had already taken over a portion of Orlais, it was hard to imagine how the nobles of the country would react.

The odds were low, but there was a chance that they might unify to fight off the invaders' threat.

For all those reasons, Cass Brankovic decided to attack swiftly. She ordered Irijina, the raiding commander and Mithra the dalish warrior to advance. At the same time, she ordered the raiding battalion and the dalish at the flanks to also advance.

They didn’t have the time to wait for the detached force that attacked the fortress.

“Attack! Let's avenge Hyuutia!"

The Redcliffe and the Hyuutia knights answered to the strategist’s call, the Dalish also fought fiercer.

The commander of the raiding battalion, Irijina who was attacking from the front, could allow the Mithra to exhibit their full strength when they lined up their spears evenly with the soldiers in front. Like that they overpowered the local knights that tried to defend with their shields.

As the defenders were gradually pushed back, Cass Brankovic finally felt some resistance.

The way the battle was progressing, the invaders would end up pushing the local knights into the city walls. At that point, the defenders shouldn’t be able to keep its formation.

Moreover, with the swift raiding battalion attacking from the flanks, the local fighters would quickly find themselves strangled.

There was no need to fear the enemy’s archers, as the the dalish at the back made sure they were no threat.

“We should win if we keep this up, but…” The female strategist muttered to herself as she watched the enemy army.

Complacency was forbidden.

The local persistence and  terrain's familiarity were not something the invaders could match.

“Don’t hold back! Finish the enemy!”

Though the war raged feverously, the strategist calmly encouraged her soldiers and waited for an opportunity to enter the fray.

***

The capital army led by Viscount Lazar that was being one-sidedly pushed back was now gradually trying to change their formation as they defended.

The knights positioned at the center split into three groups to deal with the nimble enemies attacking from the flanks.

The archers waiting at the back had their hands full defending against the enemy mages, but that wasn’t a problem. After all, from another perspective, the enemy's archers essentially had their hands full suppressing the local archers, so it could be said that the archers were doing their job well.

was paying careful attention to the time since the beacon was lit.

The success of his plan depended on it.

“The invaders really are better than we expected.”

Lazar had his aide order the infantry to gradually pull back. They had already expected the battle to progress like this since the war council.

Since they expected it, naturally they had a way to deal with it.

Lazar ordered the soldiers to conserve their strength, but the opposing female commander was a lot more annoying than they expected.

If they were only blindly attacking, they wouldn’t be a match for the local defenders, but the fact that they could not just think but also fight with discipline put the physically weaker defenders at a disadvantage.

The difference in individual strength between the nameless soldiers weighed heavily on Lazar’s shoulders.

“…They sure are hurrying.”

Lazar smiled as he ordered the infantry to pull back even more.

Any more than this and they will be hitting the city walls. At that, their formation will surely crumble.

Unlike the fortress, the city walls were indeed short, but they were still as high as a human adult’s shoulders.

If the archers positioned at the back were to lose their focus, the enemy arrows will come raining down.

Lazar, who could no longer pull back, drew cold sweat as he looked toward the back of the invading forces.

Hopeful, he looked toward the distance, and when he saw clouds of dust moving, he called out.

“Messenger! Tell the infantry to open up!!”

As Lazar swung the halberd in his hands, a gust of wind brushed his blond hair.

At Lazar’s behest, the defenders that had been holding back until now had finally started to push back against the invaders.

They moved from the center before diverging to the flanks.

When Lazar saw that they were ready, he called out once more.

“The time has come! Tear these invaders into pieces!” Lazar said as he swung his halberd.

The cavalry that fought at the flanks remained where they were, while the elite cavalry had been waiting at the center all this time. They were few in number, but they were handpicked by Lazar himself, the elite of the elite northern army.

“Clear the way for Lord Lazar! Push back the invaders!”

“OU! OU!”

The infantry platoon captains moved from the center to the flanks and pushed against the invaders there. They had not merely been defending all this time, they also aimed for the boundary line between Irijina’s army and the Mithra's, concentrating their attacks there.

As the reserves waiting at the back entered the fray, the center finally opened up just as Lazar had intended.

Try as one might to assume a length and width formation, in the end, there were bound to be some gaps between allies.

Looking from above, the formation Cass had laid out might look like a standard length and width formation, but if one looked from the center, it looked more like a split.

“Assault team, after me! Let us claim the strategist’s head and bring peace to these lands!”

As Lazar whipped his nig horse, it bolted forward and shook the earth. The steeds of the cavalry that followed from behind were indeed inferior to his steed, but they were also amazing specimens in their own right.

Fight! Fight! Fight!

The cavalry that followed from behind shouted as they moved.

“Ku… My liege!?”

“Bastards!”

Irijina cried out while Mithra grit her teeth as they watched the defenders pulled off an almost miraculous turnover that allowed them to immediately penetrate the center.

With cavalry in the way, they were both powerless to stop Lazar.

Lazar easily pushed through the enemies in front of him.

As Lazar opened a hole, the cavalry following from behind sought to expand it.

“Stop him! Squad 2 and 3, after me!”

It was the deputy of raiding battalion, Curtis Blackwell who stood before Lazar. He ordered the raiding fighters on horses, who prided themselves as the wounded ones, to turn around and clash against Lazar’s cavalry.

“We’ll force our way through! Scatter them!”

As Curtis Blackwell and Lazar passed each other, spear and halberd crossed, giving rise to sparks.

“Tch!”

It was Curtis Blackwell, the deputy of raiding battalion who clicked his tongue.

Lazar did not slow down in the slightest as he rode to claim the female strategist at the back.

Curtis Blackwell tried to turn around, but unfortunately, the spears of the cavalry were there to greet him.

Somehow, he managed to dodge them and regain his footing, but Lazar had already left him in the dust.

Cass Brankovic was now within Lazar's reach.

“Arrgh!!!”

 Curtis Blackwell led the two squads and chased after Lazar.

The threat had already reached the back by the time they noticed the change at the frontlines.

“Invaders!”

“Bastard!”

Sparks erupted as the two great swords clashed, black flames and lightning dancing into their surroundings.

The strongest platoon captain, Sten’s army of approximately 100 had taken the invaders by surprise. Lazar lit the beacon and endured until now all for the sake of making Sten’s surprise attack a success.

The eagle didn’t see them coming due to the camouflage they wore that blended their body with the grass and the trees. By the time the invaders did notice them, it was already too late.

Baron Geer and his men attacked fiercely to clear themselves of the shame of their previous defeat.

Cass had already noticed the change in the frontlines, but they needed to deal with the resurrected Geer, or the entire army would fall, so he fought Geer’s army with the reserve army, the Dalish.

“Irijina support the frontlines! Mithra, engage them in close combat!”

“Understood! Back row, swords at the ready! Front row, shoot the enemy while pulling back!”

Mithra happily had the dalish draw their sword and shield, then she had the dalish form two lines as they worked with the rear platoon to fight the attackers.

“Go to hell, human!”

“Get lost, fake human!”

The humans of the north eastern army and the dalish cursed each other as they fought. The humans fought fiercely, but the elves were inferior neither in morale nor equipment.

As the battle grew fierce, Mithra came back from the front. She had led her platoon of dalish melee fighters through the gaps between the other platoons to return.

"Don’t let the humans near the strategist!”

The battle at the back was a mess. The humans took the dalish by surprise, but Mithra was able to sense that the king was in danger, so she brought her platoon back. She jumped with her men in between the dalish and the humans to pierce the humans’ throats.

Due to that, however, the bleeding of the length and width formation that the strategist had set up did not stop. Mithra’s support alone was not enough to stop it.

The battle of the dalish and raiding platoons, against local knights spread with the Mithra and Sten fighting at the center.

Meanwhile, Curtis Blackwell was engaging with injured Geer.

While the Mithra crossed swords with Sten, the dalish that were taken aback from the defenders’ sudden attack finally started to recover themselves.

But it was then that Lazar led his assault team and joined the already chaotic battle.

“Found him! Kill that dalish bitch!”

Lazar raised his halberd toward the Mithra, who was locked in a duel with Sten. 

Mithra’s figure as she swung her long sword and gradually pushed back the local knight was truly deserving of the title, Enemy of Humanity.

“Nu!?”

At the last moment, a chill crawled up the Mithra’s neck, forcing her to twist her body.

As soon as she did, a wind blew past her cheeks and a giant black shadow passed her by.

“You sure are having a hard time, Sten!”

"Milord!"

Sten clicked his tongue when he saw Lazar enter the fray on his large steed, then he fixed his grip on his bastard sword.

"Tch, I’d say you’re in the way, but this isn’t the time. Let’s do this! This demi-human’s a tough one!”

“Ha ha, a fight with the great hero. It’s an honor!”

Lazar and Sten stood before the dalish woman, while the cavalry ran straight for her from behind.

Suddenly, the Mithra turned her back on the two local knights and faced the oncoming cavalry. She thrust her long sword into the ground as she pulled out a medium length sword.

“Enchant!”

She used Third Chant with Flowing Magic Control and gathered the magic power within her body onto her long sword.

“Don’t let him run!”

“Not good, he’s up to something!”

“Leave it to us, Lord Lazar!”

The Mithra listened to the two knights behind him while she swung his long sword from her shoulder. The approaching cavalry was close enough for her to see their faces.

As she stepped in, she used the strength of her whole body.

As she bellowed out a howl toward Lazar’s assault team, she released the gathered magic power.

“Yaaaa!!”

A slash formed from that colossal red flame shot forth through the air, and in an instant, the cavalry in front of her was split in two. The cavalry following from behind that were caught up in the attack were furious.

“Shit!”

When Lazar saw the resulting disaster from that one attack, he couldn’t help but cuss out with shaking voice.

He watched as the dalish woman continued to move.

She scooped up from below with it at the approaching cavalry.

Then with one blow each, the Mithra tore one cavalry after another, splitting both horse and rider in half.

“Dodge him and run past him!! Kill the other goblins instead!” Sten screamed while Lazar clicked his tongue. “Enough! You will harm my soldiers no more!”

Lazar rode with his big horse and attacked her.