After the unexpected bombardment subsided, the assault force's morale took another severe hit. The forward slope of Hill Eight looked like an apple gnawed at in a frenzy—pocked everywhere with craters. At the bottom of each pit lay strange crystalline formations, whole clusters of them that had appeared out of nowhere. Seen from a distance, the scars left by the strike formed a grotesque welt stretching across the mountainside. One might even wonder how the hill had avoided a massive collapse.
"What the hell was that spell supposed to be?!"
The rear lines had been hit by something akin to artillery fire. No one knew what the situation back there was now, but the casualties were almost certainly heavy. Should they keep retreating? What if that kind of bombardment came again? If they didn't retreat, how were they supposed to deal with the red robes pressing the attack? Both Otto Farustein and Donis, the commander of the Third Regiment leading the assault, were searching for a way out of the deadlock.
"Colonel, we'd better keep pushing—find a way to take that fortress!"
With Edwin and several other Night Knights covering him, Otto cut through the chaos of the battlefield and found Donis, who was being shielded by Nordhausen.
"We need to end this fight here as fast as possible and proceed with the original plan to assault the fortress. The underground works inside can withstand a five-thousand-kilogram aerial bomb—they can definitely withstand that spell from earlier. While we're advancing, they won't dare use that kind of magic again unless they're willing to hit their own troops."
Otto laid out his thoughts in one breath. Their casualties were still climbing. There was no time to waste—every minute spent here lowered the odds of taking the fortress.
"And how do you propose we handle the fight in front of us?" Donis asked.
After a moment's consideration, Donis found Otto's reasoning sound. Having crossed blades with the Holy State of Davole more than once, he knew how decisive magic could be when properly employed—especially after witnessing what had just happened to their rear positions. But he also saw plainly that his forces were at a disadvantage. Even if he wanted to win this clash with the red robes, he had no clear path forward. Otherwise, he wouldn't have ordered the retreat.
"Give me a company of infantry. I'll eliminate the threats inside our formation. You hold the line up front—don't let any more red robes slip through. Once the front stabilizes, we still have a chance. That's probably all they've got committed here."
"Understood! I'll place two reserve companies under your command. You handle the rear—I'll take the front!"
Such was Donis's trust in the Night Knights that he did not doubt Otto's ability to turn the tide for even a second.
"Nordhausen will go with you. If you run into anything tough, leave it to him!"
Time was short. After receiving Donis's reply, Otto snapped off a quick salute and departed at once.
He ordered Edwin to steady the troops and relay the new orders across the force—only the Night Knights could move freely through the bedlam—and then set off alone to find the two companies assigned to him for rear support.
Though the red robes' sudden thrust had thrown the assault force into confusion, most officers and men were still holding their positions. That made locating the two companies manageable. It did not, however, mean Otto could easily traverse the battlefield alone.
He hadn't gone far before three red-robed figures fixed their eyes on him. His combat suit stood out sharply from the standard infantry uniforms around him; anyone could pick him out in a crowd. A lone Night Knight was a prime target.
"Well then… looks like I'll have to raise the intensity."
He had anticipated this. In fact, it was unavoidable. But if he chose to move alone, he had already prepared a countermeasure.
From his kit, he retrieved a vial of No. 3 Serum. He removed the cap shielding the needle and drove it into his arm. After injecting half the dose, he sealed the needle again and stowed the remaining serum away.
No. 3 Serum heightened a Night Knight's sensory acuity and neural response speed. Three vials were generally the upper limit—anything more brought no additional improvement, and few could endure the strain of taking three in quick succession. Before the operation began, Otto had already injected one full dose. Another half vial now pushed him to his limit.
Boom—
In an instant, three red lines lashed toward him from different directions, weaving through the air as they sought to interrupt him before he could finish. The moment the half dose entered his bloodstream, Otto felt it—the red streaks seemed to slow.
He slipped cleanly through the three-pronged strike. That brief window allowed him to secure the vial and finally turn his full attention to the fight.
The first—he burst forward at a speed almost impossible to track. Using sheer momentum, he drove the bayonet fixed to his submachine gun through the Sevar's energy barrier and into his chest, dropping him on the spot. The other two Sevar hadn't expected him to move so fast. They loosed red lines as they retreated, trying to open distance.
Otto pivoted immediately toward the second. Same move. The Sevar thrust out a red line—only to realize Otto was no longer where he had aimed. Before he could reacquire the target, he collapsed to the ground.
The third Sevar gained only a fleeting head start at the cost of his comrades' lives. Before he could vanish fully into the trees, Otto tore through the underbrush in a flash and drove his blade into the man's throat.
There was no finesse to it—only the raw enhancement granted by the No. 3 Serum.
With the obstruction cleared, Otto immediately sprinted toward the two companies' positions. Their captains might already be dead; without leadership, the units could descend into chaos. A localized collapse, a hasty redeployment to reinforce another sector—any number of complications could arise. Otto had to rally them before those problems took root.
Elsewhere, Edwin, racing across the battlefield to relay orders, faced far less pressure. Otto had assigned the three Night Knights who had been with him to Edwin. Even if they ran into resistance, they could handle it with ease. The success of Edwin's mission would determine whether the troops could be reorganized—and in turn, whether this battle and the subsequent assault would succeed.
"Sennia! Over here!"
On the right flank, Hielaina, Shatiel, and five other Night Knights were still locked in combat with the red robes. They had initially formed a defensive formation centered on Hielaina, but she quickly realized that such a static setup could not effectively contain the red robes breaking into the right wing. Ignoring Shatiel's objections, she redeployed the five Night Knights across an area where they could still support one another. Only then did the situation on the right begin to improve.
"What is it?"
Seeing Edwin approach, Hielaina lowered her submachine gun and asked.
"New orders. Finish the fight here, then proceed to assault the fortress."
As he delivered the message, Edwin kept a vigilant eye on their surroundings. The chaos of the battlefield allowed no room for carelessness.
"What should I do?"
"Hold the right flank. Tie down as many of the enemy attacking this side as possible."
"Understood."
Hielaina listened calmly to the new directive and Edwin's arrangements, then nodded in acknowledgment.
"Be careful."
Edwin gave Shatiel a brief glance as well. With her there, he did not truly need to worry about Hielaina's safety.
In any case, his task of relaying orders here was complete. Without delay, Edwin led his men toward the left flank. That sector was currently under Nordhausen's squad. Since Nordhausen would soon move with Donis, Edwin needed to reach him quickly and complete the handover.
From high above the battlefield—if the forest canopy were stripped away—we would see the Sevar divided into two groups under the combined efforts of the Fourth Platoon's Night Knights and the infantry.
One group remained in front of the assault force, pinning down the forward line while probing for openings along the front. They were now primarily being contained by Nordhausen's squad. The other group had plunged into the assault formation itself, scattering almost everywhere. Whenever they found an opening, they butchered nearby infantry without restraint.
Taken as a whole, the Sevar did hold the advantage. Whether at the front or within the formation, they consistently exploited gaps in the Night Knights' defenses to inflict casualties on the infantry. At the same time, they made excellent use of the thick tree trunks around them for cover, evading concentrated infantry fire. Even when the infantry had the capability to wound them, actually landing decisive hits was another matter entirely.
The Sevar at the front still showed some caution toward the infantry under Nordhausen's containment. But those scattered within the formation, fighting a kind of guerrilla battle, moved like wraiths through the woods, harvesting lives. The infantry—disorganized and leaderless in places—could only be cut down amid the chaos. Of course, the Sevar themselves had taken losses, but up to now they remained the greatest threat to the stability of the force. They were also Otto Farustein's primary target.
After linking up with the two rear companies assigned to him, Otto began his counterattack from behind the assault force's central formation, striking at the Sevar dispersed within. His sudden offensive drew significant attention, granting both the left and right wings a measure of breathing room.
Faced with Otto's assault, the Sevar did not choose to continue infiltrating the mainly infantry defensive line, nor did they engage him head-on. Instead, they consolidated—gathering their scattered elements into a single force—and launched a concentrated strike against the relatively weaker left flank, attempting to shatter it outright. Their level of coordination and the speed of their reaction were astonishing.
In response, Otto intensified his own offensive on this side. Earlier, under his orders, all Night Knights had injected excessive doses of No. 3 Serum. Whether there would be side effects no longer mattered. Without staking everything on a desperate gamble, there would be no breaking the current stalemate.
"Ready—fire!"
The Sevar's decision to concentrate their assault proved, to some extent, a miscalculation. While they focused on crashing into the left flank, the two rear companies under Otto were able to fire in a sustained and disciplined manner, pouring steady damage into their ranks.
Realizing this, the Sevar dispersed once more—but several volleys had already inflicted losses too serious to ignore. Seizing the moment, Otto maintained the pressure on his side and personally led the Night Knights from the central formation and the left flank in a charge into the enemy ranks. Occasionally, stray rounds from their own infantry struck the Night Knights, but even that failed to halt their advance.
At the front, Nordhausen's squad was meant to support the vanguard. However, upon recognizing an opportunity to encircle and annihilate the Sevar who had penetrated the formation, he committed five of his Night Knights—along with a platoon of infantry dispatched by Donis—to the fighting in the rear.
"Damn it, even that last raid wasn't this satisfying! Hahaha!!"
Holding the most pressured section of the line, Edwin fought with bloodshot eyes. Earlier, unable to evade in time, his right arm had been scorched by the flames of an explosion. Aside from that, he was splattered with the blood of red-robed enemies from close-quarters combat, his entire bearing that of a man drunk on slaughter. Disregarding the limits established in prior testing, he had injected two full doses of No. 2 Serum.
"Shatiel, go help at the front. I can handle things here."
Sensing that the chance to turn the tide was right before them, Hielaina decided to add fuel to the fire.
She knew Shatiel was far more capable than she had once imagined; over this stretch of fighting, she had seen her abilities firsthand. But bound by her duty, Shatiel did not always fight at full strength on the front line.
"No. My foremost task is to ensure your safety."
As expected, Shatiel rejected her proposal.
"What if that's an order?"
"But—"
Before Shatiel could continue, Hielaina took her hand.
"No one here knows my true identity except our own people. The Sevar won't single me out. If we fail to break them, we'll lose the entire Third Infantry Regiment. Otto and the others have all taken excessive doses of No. 3 Serum. For a period afterward, their combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced. Until we understand the enemy's full situation—and when reinforcements might arrive—we need the Third Infantry Regiment intact."
"..."
At that point, Shatiel understood Hielaina had made up her mind. She met Hielaina's gaze, pondered for a moment, then lowered her head. When she raised it again, she answered firmly:
"Understood."
Even if the reality might not be as perilous as Hielaina described, making such a decision felt excruciating to Shatiel. She had grown accustomed to guarding Hielaina at all times, to acting with her safety as the supreme priority. In that sense, this moment was not unlike their parting aboard the Heidrig.
"You must be careful…"
Even her tone softened. Hielaina could tell—those words did not come from Shatiel the bodyguard.
"Don't worry. I can manage here. Besides five Night Knights, I still have a battalion of infantry with me. Finish the fight quickly, and I'll be completely safe."
"…All right."
As Shatiel drew her blade and stepped into the fray, Hielaina's thoughts drifted beyond the battlefield.
Hadn't she long since grown used to the feeling of Shatiel standing at her side? Their earlier separation had once forced her to bury her loneliness in relentless training. Compared with the ordinary soldiers around her, she was already fortunate. At least she was surrounded by people who cared for her, people who could pull her back from danger.
Many of those ordinary soldiers, meanwhile, now lay forever at rest in this forest.
"Soldiers, forward! Kill those bastards!!"
The right flank had more Night Knights and operated more efficiently, so its losses were lighter—relatively speaking. Still, as the red-robed Sevar surged forward again, a platoon leader led his men to the very front and formed a firing line, fully aware that holding the first line meant taking the brunt of the casualties.
"Form up! Prepare for combat!"
Another platoon rushed up and deployed alongside the first unit that had stepped forward.
The soldiers moved swiftly, seizing advantageous ground and spreading out as they took aim, waiting for the order. The officers remained focused, eyes locked on the Sevar weaving through the trees, judging the precise moment to open fire.
Their courage infected everyone present. Though the brutality of the earlier fighting was still fresh, and fatigue and unease lingered among the ranks, in this moment the soldiers found their resolve again.
"Fire!"
Gunfire erupted in an instant. Bullets tore through the air, dirt and splinters flying. Countless grenades were thrown at once, forming a dense barrier of explosions and cascading soil.
The first volley was thunderous, halting the Sevar's charge—but it failed to inflict especially heavy losses. The barrage did not stop.
Under their commanders' orders, riflemen fired in rotating volleys, maintaining uninterrupted fire. The Sevar would need more than sheer momentum to push into effective striking range.
"Flank from both sides—advance!"
With the infantry fully engaged, Hielaina had no intention of standing idle.
While the red-robed Sevar were suppressed and the defenders still held the advantage, she divided the Night Knights into two teams and advanced along both flanks. Their goal was to disrupt and intercept any renewed assault, ensuring the infantry could continue delivering sustained fire.
Close-quarters assaults were always drenched in blood. Once contact was made, Hielaina and the two Night Knights at her side burst into the enemy ranks in a sudden strike, catching them off guard and cutting down two Sevar in swift succession.
The remaining Sevar reacted quickly. Some were redirected to block the Night Knights' attack, while others pressed forward. Overall, the Sevar attacking the right flank still held a numerical advantage. The Night Knights could not completely pin them down, and the inevitable counterattack came.
More than a dozen red streaks slithered through the forest, silently approaching the infantry's firing lines. Violent explosions lit up the woods in crimson, but thanks to the experienced commanders who had spaced their men carefully, casualties—though heavy—did not cause the entire front to collapse.
After the Sevar's first wave of attacks ended, medics rushed forward to provide field treatment and drag the incapacitated to the rear. Those still able to move began falling back under covering fire from units behind them, reorganizing as they withdrew. One platoon leader had been killed in the blast, so another platoon temporarily took in the soldiers left without command.
Boom—
Another barrage struck, but this time the Sevar inflicted only limited casualties.
Light machine guns spat continuous streams of fire while riflemen maintained disciplined volleys. As the enemy advanced slowly, Dazilet's infantry withdrew just as steadily, never allowing the suppression to falter. Once they found this rhythm, the infantry commanders were able to retain control of the battlefield without suffering excessive losses.
Up front, the casualties inflicted by Hielaina's flanking harassment had become impossible to ignore. The Sevar found it difficult to land effective blows against the Night Knights, yet diverting too many forces to the sides slowed their advance. With their attack stalled, the Sevar assigned to assault the right flank began to withdraw.
"Don't let them escape! Fall back into position—press forward!"
Beforehand, Hielaina had coordinated the next phase of tactics with the infantry commanders. The Second Infantry Battalion on the right flank would not bear the brunt of the enemy's main force. Their task was to tie down part of the opposition. When the enemy attacked fiercely, they would yield ground. When the enemy showed signs of fatigue and attempted to retreat, they would bite down and refuse to let them disengage. By repeatedly pulling and pushing in this way, they could keep a portion of the enemy fixed on the right, thereby easing pressure across the entire line.
On Edwin's side, Shatiel's arrival dramatically reduced the strain.
Freed from the constraints of holding back, Shatiel fought like an army unto herself, carving out an empty circle around her position. The two standard-issue long blades of the judgment cell flashed in her hands like a gale sweeping fallen leaves, cutting down Sevar who could scarcely mount resistance. With a touch of magic infused into the blades, they sliced effortlessly through the Sevar's defensive barriers.
Seeing this, Nordhausen—who had come to reinforce—decisively shifted his focus, prioritizing the interception of Sevar attempting to break apart again and harass the vanguard from the rear. With that, the Sevar who had infiltrated deep into the assault formation were largely cleared out, and the entire force could finally concentrate on the fighting at the front.
"The turning point of this battle came when those red-robed Sevar who had been infiltrating and fighting a guerrilla campaign chose to regroup of their own accord."
That was how Nordhausen summed it up during the post-battle review.
"That was unquestionably their mistake. If they had continued with their earlier guerrilla tactics, the infantry on both our flanks would never have been able to play their proper role."
"Exactly. Even if the force under my command had managed to consolidate and draw their attention into a decisive engagement, our infantry would have kept taking casualties right up until the very end—perhaps even collapsed outright."
Otto nodded in agreement.
Unlike the two of them, who were dissecting the battle in measured, theoretical terms, Edwin seemed far more immersed in the sheer relief and exhilaration that followed a hard-fought victory.
"Either way, we turned it around this time. Infantry casualties even came in lower than expected."
After injecting himself with an excessive dose of No. 3 Serum, he could no longer stand and was forced to lie flat where he was.
Otto and Nordhausen were in little better condition, both slumped bonelessly in their chairs.
"Out of the wolf's den, straight into the tiger's jaws…"