(E)

Why would a group of humans approach us?

We are already with an escort and at least to a degree people should be informed.

(H)

(messenger)

He points to the nearby forest which dwells on the right side of the road.

Honestly, there's no reason why anyone would come from there.

There's not even a path.

"We, we need to ask the envoy what is going on!" (E)

(H)

(K)

I feel like my words got turned around.

Honiu meanwhile turns back to her messenger.

(H)

(messenger)

(H)

To be honest, I never wished them to be in an actual fight.

However, I'm sure that they can hold their own.

They should be stronger than the average human, and this isn't even considering their doubled number of arms.

Also, they're fast, their thick carapaces almost impenetrable, and they have the ability to fly.

So yes, if not vastly outnumbered they should win in any situation.

(E)

(H)

And with this, every human here just got unknowingly taken hostage, their lives at a crazy princess' mercy, depending on whether or not she'll like the answer she'll now receive.

Great prospects.

Fortunately, the envoy comes timely, already alerted by the arrival of the messenger.

So I can at least stop worrying if Honiu will give the order to kill them because it takes too long.

I don't know if he's aware of this but he looks slightly nervous.

"May I ask what is going on? In particular... I wasn't aware that your subjects already freely roam our realm." (A)

I should answer diplomatically for now.

"Those are safety measures. Princesses are very valued, so their safety will always be guaranteed and any risk to them is going to be actively quelled." (E)

"I-I see." (A)

"Which brings us to this. Why is there a larger group of humans approaching us from that direction? You're aware of how this looks considering your prior talk about our presumed safety?" (H)

"Gulp! Ahem please, believe me, we are certainly not responsible for whoever comes there. Naturally my men will protect you before there'll be any risk for you." (A)

While obviously worried he still speaks with certainty.

Though, this might be linked to his occupation.

"No, they won't." (H)

"What!?" (E/A/K)

The loudest here is actually Kyska.

It might be quite problematic for a nurse to doubt a princess so openly.

"You understood me. I don't want your soldiers to intercept them. My drones will continue to surveil those humans. When they arrive we'll ask them what they want and in case they turn out to be hostile, take care of them. I suppose this structure is sturdy enough to shield us? This is also in accordance with your usual pattern, Princess Erys, isn't it?" (H)

Honestly, I am always in for an approach that prevents people from getting killed.

However, this seems very unlikely for Honiu.

I'm very sure she doesn't care for human lives as I do, so this can't be her motivation.

Is it maybe mere curiosity?

She doesn't know who is approaching and is now interested to learn about their motivation.

"I, I can't possibly let any potentially dangerous individuals come close to you for questioning." (A)

"Naturally not by us in person. Our subjects should be able to do so well enough." (H)

God, even I am intimidated by Honiu's demeanor.

It’s a potent mix of, given the situation, unbecoming relaxedness and an absolute imperative confidence that, as is only natural, her orders will be fulfilled.

It's utterly clear that the envoy won't be allowed anymore to act according to his own plan.

"Ehk, I, I think she won't give in here. Guess there's no choice." (E)

"Good that you realized that because this will be a great test for your royal guard." (H)

What?

- Officer -

Any moment now we'll reach the target area.

As proud soldiers of Koreso, it's our duty to serve our country in any way possible, I swear on my proud name, Elran Sadas.

Usually, our missions concentrate on raiding facilities and intercepting caravans.

Tarsona's strength lies in their wealth, which enables them to support their military structures and buy mercenaries, but as we have the greater army they are forced into defense.

So we're going to whittle them down, concentrating on their soft targets.

Causing their populace to flee is already putting a strain on their resources and we're going to aggravate this, as is our duty.

Since we're behind the frontline our access to recent information is limited, but from time to time our spies can still gather relevant information and relay it to us.

In this case, we've received intel from their capital that an important transport, which is said to be relevant for the course of the war, will today pass along this route leading from Osari to their capital.

I tried to gain information from Osari itself, but the whole town is completely locked off.

No one can leave and those who enter are strictly controlled and surveilled.

Though, there are rumors about foreign monsters, experiments, and underground facilities.

It's screaming that they're hiding something important.

Our scouts report that the transport consists first of riders, then several carriages, followed by a greater number following on foot.

Naturally, they were ordered to keep their distance to not expose our operation.

We planned this long in advance.

Instead of preparing an ambush, which could be discovered by the advance party, we waited till the scheduled day and are now moving to the perfect place for an attack, where our approach is covered by the greenery.

It doesn't matter how many troops will be present, our only goal is to prevent whatever they're delivering here from ever reaching its destination.

As soon as our goal is achieved, we'll retreat through the forest and escape on our horses.

That's the plan

Though, as is only natural before such an operation, I'm on edge.

It feels as if we're being watched and I worry that our plans might've been leaked.

Nonetheless, now is not the time for indecisiveness.

Any moment now we'll arrive and then the fighting will begin, blood will be spilled, and lives will be ended, as is our duty.

"SCRAAAHHH!!!"

"Ah, what was that?!"

"My ears!"

Shit!

What was that?

Are we exposed?

My soldiers are already close to freaking out.

"Huuumanz!" (Miru)

Suddenly a strange voice echoes through the forest.

"Your, approach, will, no longer, be, tolerated! Surrender, or you, will, die!" (M)

The voice sounds again.

High-pitched and somehow halting.

Damn, I knew this was going too well.

Seems like we got discovered.

Should I order a retreat?

But before I can decide, several cloaked figures close in on our position.

I don't know if they acted on insufficient information, but from what I see they're still vastly outnumbered by us.

One of them steps forward, focusing on me.

"You, will, cease, all, hostile, behavior, and, Explain, your, approach. Otherwise, you'll, End!" (M)

It's the same one who talked before.

I guess their leader?

Damn, I can't assess them in the slightest.

I'm even unable to determine if they're male or female based on their voice.

It's somewhere in between.

Women aren't too rare on the battlefield, I even have some in my ranks, but given the size of that figure, a man might be more likely.

A spear of matching size is strapped on this figure's back.

The black color makes me nervous.

Can this truly be black iron or is it just some fancy coloring?

Yet I assume they're able to fight if they show off their weapons like this.

Now that they come closer I see that their supposed leader wears a full-face mask.

This is disturbing since their mouth like this doesn't move during their strange speech.

"Why are you all wearing those creepy masks?" (S)

"Masks? This izz, the face, our mother, granted us!" (M)

Damn, are they some kind of religious fanatics, wearing those garments as mandatory in some cult for their "mother"?

Some kind of goddess or religious leader?

Is this Tarsona's secret?

Did they hire some weird cult to bolster their ranks?

"I'm, ought to, relay, that this, is a, diplomatic, mission. An attack, will be, seen, as, hostile, behavior." (M)

Still talking stuck up.

Yet if they're supposed to reinforce the enemy I have to test their strength.

"Attack! Kill those creeps!" (S)

"Poor, choice." (M)

Their supposed leader isn't even stepping back into their formation but stands still while my soldiers run at him with readied swords, spears, and axes.

The first one hauls out a strike at the figure's creepy mask.

"Clank"

And gets repelled by a sudden swing with a sword that was hidden below the cloak.

Especially impressive was that this one move had enough power to push him back.

Whoever they are, they had thorough training.

"Scruh, mother, spoke, false." (M)

But the next is already upon him.

If we can take down their leader, the others might be thrown into disarray.

At least this might help in a possible retreat, back to our horses.

The next soldier, a woman, already reached the figure.

He quickly reaches with his arm for the spear and swings it in a wide but low ark at her, sweeping her right off her feet.

Then he circles the weapon in his hand and, without even looking, pins her through the back to the ground.

"These, humans, are not, the threat, she described, them, to be." (M)

That's an issue.

Whatever mental conditioning they had, those fanatics don't show the slightest hesitance to kill people.

It certainly makes them even more dangerous.

But now two more men reach this warrior.

With drawn swords, they swing from both sides, because the warrior can't access the stuck spear right now and can only rely on the sword.

But then this fighter abandons the spear, reaches below the cloak, and draws another sword.

How many weapons do they have?!

Anyway, with this, he can hold his ground against the approaching soldiers.

But those are now more cautious, wielding their weapons with both hands, and are not as easily repelled.

So they can surely keep this warrior occupied till the others reach them and finish him off.

After that, the others will be without their leader, which might grant us some advantage to follow up on.

Any moment they'll reach them.

"Humans, are, weak!" (M)

The warrior locks their weapon in a struggle of strength with the soldier to his right while keeping the other one distracted with a number of random slashes and...

What the fuck!?

Suddenly another arm emerges from the cloak.

The tall figure grabs with it the hand of the soldier who has to keep the pressing blade from himself, holding it tightly in place.

Then it kicks out.

No, not kicking.

Rather he places the end on the base of his chest, clamps, and pushes him to the ground.

Wait, clamps?

Truly!

This is not a foot, but a rigid, brownish claw!

The man himself is too panicked to even think about countering, not even holding on to his weapon anymore.

The... creature doesn't waste a single instant, snatches the blade from him, and sticks all of the weapons into the soldier to its left.

The approaching soldiers got caught off guard by this display and stop, but the creature doesn't end there.

"Aahhhh!" (soldier)

Instead, it presses harder with its claw, which is still stuck within the man, swings the leg towards the next soldier, and propels the whole man at him.

Well, aside from the parts of his chest which are still stuck as bloody crumps to the sharp edges of the claw.

"End, it. But, leave, one, alive. The princess, wished, to converse." (M)

Shit, shit, shit!!!

Until now none of the other figures moved, but this changes now.

Are they all such monsters?

"Soldiers! Crossbows! Shoot!" (S)

Thanks to the military innovations of our country our troop is equipped with a good number of light crossbows for riders and mobile operations.

The forest is not the ideal environment for projectile weapons and it takes a long time to reload them, so I planned to wait till we reach the transport on the open road to fire a salvo.

But for fucks sake, who cares about that now?!

The volley is released at the rushing figures and several of them get pierced.

B-but why aren't they stopping?

These may not be the heavy versions, but I saw often enough how a bolt fired with these pierced right through the body.

Those things barely appear to be bothered by those stuck in them.

And this kind of displayed invulnerability is certainly not good for what remains of my soldiers' morale if there's anything left at all.

Some of the figures keep running, but others shake off their cloaks and reveal a completely inhuman appearance of rigid scales, brown layers, and segmented limbs.

And most importantly... wings!

They lift off the ground and cross the distance in an instant.

The soldiers at the front are easily overwhelmed by their assault while each of them wields several weapons at once.

Most of them concentrate on one specific target.

If the soldier can even manage to block one strike in all this chaos certainly the other weapons put an end to any resistance.

None of my soldiers are trained to defend against simultaneous attacks with four blades, wielded by stupidly strong monster freaks!

That's simply unfair!

"Retreat!" (S)

The order comes too late for many of us.

The flying ones already reached many of my crossbowmen and pierce them with their spears from above.

Our only advantage is that the forest impedes their movement.

Maybe we can somehow reach the horses and escape.

I can already see the light at the end.

I step out into the clearing... and despair.

Small spiked critters, barely reaching to my hip, sit all over the horses, feasting on their flesh. Not to speak of the few men I left to guard them.

I can already hear the slaughter behind me, while those disgusting creeps turn their attention toward us.

One man next to me starts to cry, while I can only draw my sword, hopefully making for a better end than his.

"Sstk"

Suddenly I feel a sting in my back and the world gets dark.