Major General Olivia was in an extremely foul mood as she ordered her forces to advance on the 30 soldiers standing atop the hill.

  It wasn’t just because she and the other Major Generals had realized they were being toyed with. They had fallen for the trap early on, but even after recognizing it, they couldn’t escape.

  For an entire month, she and her army had been stalled by a mere thousand soldiers, which wasn’t half of a Corps sized force. It was beyond humiliating. No matter how many they killed, they continued to fight.

  On top of that, the battlefield had been littered with traps, forcing them to waste time clearing them to avoid taking massive casualties.

  “I guess we’ll be handing that Silver Angel to you?” Major General Jack muttered, riding beside her. Dark circles hung under his eyes, evidence of the relentless campaign.

  “Yes.”

  Olivia had already crossed blades with the infamous Silver Angel, only to discover that their so-called nightmare was nothing but a little girl.

  And yet, she hadn’t been able to kill her.

  Much to Olivia’s frustration, that girl had fought her almost evenly. Not just her, Jack and Claudius had been powerless against her as well.

  “I suppose Commander Otis didn’t lose to just anyone, huh?” Jack mused.

  “Shut up.”

  But none of that mattered anymore.

  This was the end.

  Olivia might have had her pride as a swordsman, but she was still a general. The Silver Angel would die here, crushed by sheer numbers.

  That was, until—

  A deep, thunderous rumble echoed across the battlefield.

  “What the hell is that?!” Jack shouted, jerking his head toward the hill ahead.

  The answer came immediately.

  Boulders. Massive ones.

  They tumbled down the hill, crashing into the advancing troops. Soldiers screamed, scrambling to flee, only to be crushed beneath the unstoppable avalanche of rock and earth.

  “I guess they really intend to fight to the end,” Claudius remarked, his usually closed eyes now glinting with curiosity. “Brave of them. But foolish.”

  “Whatever,” Olivia growled, her cool demeanor finally cracking.

  She yanked the reins of her horse and surged forward.

  “I’m going to the front.”

  “Fine.” Jack sighed. Then, narrowing his eyes, he added, “Just make sure you follow my orders. Unlike you, I want to live.”

  “I know.” Olivia didn’t even look back as she spurred her horse forward, galloping toward the front lines.

  Jack watched her go, expression grim.

  “She’s not going to make it, is she?”

  Claudius didn’t answer with words. He simply nodded, then turned away to issue new orders.

  [(0)]

  I watched as the last of the boulders came to a stop at the bottom of the hill.

  However, the Imperials had already regrouped. And once more, they were marching forward.

  Normally, this would be the perfect time to set the battlefield ablaze, fire always worked. Unfortunately, the thick layer of snow beneath our feet made that impossible. I had to switch tactics.

  “Shields up!”

  Our "shields" were more like wooden walls at this point, most of the real ones were either shattered or bent beyond use. Still, they did their job, shielding us from the Imperial archers’ rain of arrows.

  Some of their mages mixed in magic attacks, but every time they tried, Lura erased them with her own spells. She couldn’t do it forever, though, so she only targeted the ones powerful enough to break through our defenses.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Spears!”

  Like true Spartans, we hurled them.

  Of course, with only thirty of us left, some of whom were holding up the wooden wall, we barely managed ten throws.

  Five spears were knocked out of the air. The other five found their mark.

  And when they hit, they exploded.

  A lovely gift from General Declan of the 4th Corps who he had used to turn people into walking bombs. I had been saving them for the final battle, and now, they were doing their job beautifully. The Imperials were thrown into chaos, their once-organized ranks crumbling.

  “Now retreat!”

  Our job wasn’t to win but to prevent the Imperials from reinforcing the front lines for as long as possible. Why fight here while we had a forest right behind us? Staying on this hill was a death sentence.

  However, the Imperials weren’t thrilled about letting us escape.

  A barrage of arrows answered our retreat.

  “Keep the shields up while we retreat!”

  But retreating down a hill while blocking arrows was far harder than standing still on even terrain.

  “Gah!”

  As expected, a soldier holding a wooden wall stumbled, breaking formation.

  Before he could recover, thunk! An arrow pierced his head.

  One down.

  I didn’t stop. I didn’t look back.

  Instead, I ordered another soldier to quickly grab his shield and use it to block the incoming arrows. Retrieving a body in the middle of the battlefield? Not worth it. The Imperials could have the corpse.

  All I cared about was surviving this hell.

  We managed to escape into the forest, where the dense trees provided cover from the hail of arrows and magic spells. As soon as we reached the shadows of the canopy, we discarded the wooden barriers and pushed forward, disappearing into the undergrowth.

  The Imperials soon arrived at the forest’s edge but hesitated. They had learned the hard way that we always struck when they entered the trees. Even now, their caution was evident. But one figure, bold and impatient, refused to slow down. The same swordsman who had cut the MPA unit down to half its number stepped forward and barked an order.

  “Charge!”

  Damn it. That wasn’t in my calculations.

  I had expected them to take a moment to regroup, to hesitate before pushing forward. Their formation was still disorganized, which should have spelled disaster for them, but they clearly didn’t care.

  “Major Aria… what do we do?” The officer beside me spoke, his voice tense.

  I clenched my teeth. My original plan had been to retreat deeper into the forest, using the traps we had set in advance. But there weren’t enough of them.

  Some had already been triggered, others disabled by the enemy’s careful probing. That meant the enemy commander, Olivia, if I remembered correctly, had caught on. She had realized we hadn’t had enough time to fully prepare.

  Which meant they were taking a risk. They wanted to end this now.

  Fine.

  “Retreat, and use whatever tools we have to slow them down,” I ordered. “We need to buy time.”

  Immediately, the soldiers sprang into action. Small explosive charges were tossed into the underbrush, igniting bursts of smoke and debris to create confusion.

  Makeshift caltrops were scattered across the forest floor. Ropes, barely visible in the dim light, were pulled taut between trees to trip advancing soldiers. It wasn’t much, but it would force them to slow down.

  As we fell back, I risked a glance over my shoulder. The Imperials were pressing forward, but not recklessly.

  The other generals were still nowhere in sight, likely watching from behind. Instead, it was the swordsman, Olivia, who led the charge, cutting through obstacles with her sword. Her blade flashed, severing vines and slashing through smoke with ease.

  My grip tightened on my own weapon. I had no intention of facing her here, not yet.

  We vanished deeper into the woods, leaving behind just enough chaos to keep them chasing shadows. If they wanted to end this, they’d have to bleed for it.

  “Stop!”

  We came to an abrupt halt at the edge of a steep cliff. Below us, the forest continued, but the drop was far too high. Survival was unlikely.

  But that was exactly why we were going to do something insane.

  Using the wooden materials we had prepared in advance, we quickly assembled a crude battering ram. It wasn’t elegant, but it was built for one purpose: charging straight into the enemy.

  “Now, go!” I shouted.

  With all 29 of us packed inside, we braced ourselves and shoved forward. The wooden construct lurched, rolling down the incline like an avalanche of splintered timber and desperation.

  The Imperials, having positioned their archers at the front, assumed we were trapped. Their expressions turned from smug confidence to wide-eyed shock as the massive wooden contraption suddenly barreled toward them.

  Before they could react, we crashed into their ranks.

  A heavy impact jolted through my body, but I ignored it, pushing forward with all my strength. The thick wooden plating shielded us from swords and arrows, making it difficult for the enemy to stop our momentum. The wheels hidden beneath ensured we didn’t lose speed, turning our crude weapon into an unstoppable force.

  But…

  “There’s too many of them!” Lura shouted, sweat dripping down her face.

  To reinforce our defenses, we had stationed soldiers with the highest mana reserves to channel energy into the wood, strengthening it with magic. But they were reaching their limit.

  The problem wasn’t just the sheer number of Imperials. They had caught on. Instead of scattering, they braced themselves, using their own magic and weapons to slow our advance. If we got stuck in the middle of their formation, it would be over.

  “Keep pushing!” I roared.

  But even as I said it, I knew this wasn’t sustainable. We needed another way out, and fast.

  “Major Aria, we’re losing speed!” the officer shouted, his face drenched in sweat as he struggled to push the ram forward.

  I peered through a small gap in the wooden frame, my heart sinking the moment I saw what lay ahead.

  “Stop—!” I barked.

  But it was too late.

  Instead of crashing into a wall of soldiers, our makeshift battering ram slammed straight into a massive tree. The impact sent a violent jolt through the entire structure. My body lurched forward, weightless for a brief moment, then I was airborne.

  The world spun.

  Then, blackness.