After appropriately dealing with the food-poisoned variant Ogre.
—Grrrr, Growl!
"Everyone, stay calm! Encircle it and keep it checked! I'll take the head!"
"Even if we cut off an arm, it grows back instantly. Won't it be the same if we take the head?"
"No! According to the Compendium of Anti-Monster Tactics, a Troll is—"
—CRUNCH!
"Uh...?"
Moving with the casual ease of a morning jog, I circled the Bartok territory along the walls, clearing out the larger threats.
"Good work. The northern front looks strained—go support them."
"Yes, Commander!"
As I encouraged my subordinates—who were clumsy but fighting with everything they had—the tide of battle began to shift decisively in our favor.
"Their numbers are not infinite! Look! Their offensive has slowed! From this moment, switch from defense to annihilation! Drive the beasts from the lands of men!"
"WAAAAAAA!!!"
Once I felt the momentum was secure, I bellowed the order. After repeating the process a few more times—
"It's the Commander's order! 3rd Century, CHARGE!"
"Even if ten Ogres show up, we're fine! Advance! The Commander is with us!"
The tidal wave of monsters that had been swarming like madness finally ebbed away. My tactic of busy-bodying around to pick off the high-threat targets that usually pinned down multiple knights had worked wonders.
—Kieee! —Whimper...
As I moved about, intentionally radiating the heavy scent of blood and slaughter, the monsters began to shriek and flee the moment I drew near. In truth, this was how it should have been from the start. Monsters ignoring their survival instinct to rampage was the anomaly. The fact that different species were cooperating like an army to wipe out a territory was fundamentally wrong.
Lost in these thoughts as I scoured the battlefield, I came across a scene filled with ice shards and the frozen corpses of monsters.
"It's quite chilly here."
The Vice-Commander's handiwork. As expected of a Manifestation-type Mental Image holder; she was a literal grim reaper against low-tier enemies, regardless of her mastery level.
"What is...?"
Suddenly, a foul aura prickled my skin. It was a sticky, nauseating pressure—a concentrated mass of madness, malice, and lust. I rushed toward the source and found the Vice-Commander cornered by a familiar piece of trash. Her sword was snapped in half, and she was in a perilous state, seconds away from being subdued.
"Shut up and stay still—"
—CRACK!
Without a second thought, I pulverized the man's head exactly as I had done to the variant Ogre.
"Trash... How dare you lay those filthy hands on her."
Only after the act did I wonder if I should have kept him alive for information, but the bastard deserved to die for touching my subordinate. I was slightly concerned about his status, but I didn't fear the consequences. If anything, the Medici family should thank me for taking out their trash.
It was then—
—C-crack!
Perhaps because I had put too much force into the punch, my old armor—which had survived countless battles—finally reached its limit and buckled. It was a sentimental piece, but ultimately a consumable. I stripped off the useless plates and tossed them aside. As I approached the fallen Vice-Commander—
"Vice-Commander! Are you alright? Good grief, you're completely exhausted."
"C-Commander! Behind you!"
—Squirm, wriggle...
Despite having his head obliterated, the man was attempting to rise, shrouded in that black miasma. I decided to crush him until he could never rise again.
"Gah, GRAAAAAAH!"
—CRUNCH!
"It's alright. You can rest now. You did incredibly well handling so many on your own."
"Ah..."
I pulled the Vice-Commander up, supporting her with one arm as I focused on the "trash disposal." I considered covering her eyes from the gruesome sight, but she was a knight before she was a woman. Unlike the Princess, there was no need to be overly protective.
—Snap, Crunch!
Using the ground as a cutting board, I kneaded his bones and flesh with my aura until he resembled a flattened slab of meat rather than a human.
"U-uuuuugh..."
Even in that state, he continued to regenerate thanks to the black energy. He was no longer human. But it didn't matter. My Master used to say: if an enemy regenerates too fast, just compress them until their body folds into itself. Eventually, the regeneration becomes a poison that consumes them.
—Clench!
As I manifested my will to crush from all directions, his limbs snapped and folded inward.
—Rumble!
The black orb he held flared with even greater intensity. My hands trembled slightly from the resistance.
"Gah...! You...! How do you have this power?! This... this defies common sense!"
"A man who abandoned his humanity talks of human common sense? If you can still talk in that state, there's no need for further questions. I'll let the Inquisitors handle you."
I applied more pressure, overcoating his black aura with my own, curling his body into a ball like a pill bug.
—CRACK!
With the sound of shattering glass, the orb in his hand fractured. The black miasma ceased instantly. Simultaneously, the resistance vanished, and his body simply... burst. I immediately turned, shielding the Vice-Commander with my body to protect her from the debris.
"Ugh...!"
"Oh, apologies. Are you hurt?"
A bit of biological debris was unavoidable. I removed my gauntlets and gently brushed the fragments from her cheek and hair.
"Ah, haaaa..."
Suddenly, the Vice-Commander's face turned bright red, and her body went completely limp in my arms. A bad sign. Her condition was worse than I thought.
"Damn! A mana backflow? Excuse me for a moment."
"Huff, huff..."
—Rip!
I tore away her damaged breastplate and the under-armor beneath it. It revealed her pale skin and the bandages wrapped tightly around her chest. I considered removing those too, but that felt like crossing a line. I could stabilize her from the abdomen.
"Vice-Commander, are you conscious? I'm going to inject my mana to stabilize your core."
She nodded weakly, her face crimson. As I placed my palm near her mana core at her lower abdomen, her body jerked. It was a natural reaction to a hand on such a sensitive vital point.
"Trust me and take it all. I'm going to fill you with a large amount now."
"Ha... ha... ha..."
Ideally, I should have gone slow, but her face was getting hotter by the second. I poured a high concentration of my mana directly into her.
"Haaaah!"
"Not yet. Slowly, take it all in."
Her irregularly vibrating core began to pulse violently, accepting my vigorous mana.
"Haah... ah...!"
"There. Just a bit more. It's almost over."
I gently stroked her lower abdomen to help her assimilate the flow. Her body shivered and twitched rhythmically. This was the critical moment.
"Kyah! Ahhhhh! Ah, haat... haaa..."
Fortunately, her small body fully accepted the surge. Her abdominal muscles tightened once, and then her breathing and mana stabilized. Success.
"Phew..."
After the intense and dangerous injection process, I let out a long sigh of relief.
"Alright, it's done. Calm down now. I was worried you might reject it, but it seems we are quite compatible."
"Ah, Commander... Wolfgang..."
Exhausted, she whispered my name and closed her eyes, her delicate breath hitching. I waited for her to regain enough strength to move. When she finally opened her eyes and saw my face, she turned red again.
"Ah! Commander... th-that... I just showed you such a shameful..."
"It's fine. You were exhausted and suffering a backflow. I'm just glad it ended there. You did a great job against a difficult foe."
I patted her shoulder. That corrupted Pietro was too much for her to handle alone. If I had been any later, things would have been catastrophic.
—The monsters are fleeing!
—We won! Where's the Commander?!
—I don't see the Vice-Commander either! Find them!
In the distance, the last of the monsters were retreating, and the knights were searching for us. It was time to return.
"Vice-Commander Agnes. Can you stand?"
"Ugh...! My apologies. I... I have no strength in my waist..."
She was too spent to even stand. And I couldn't exactly let her walk in front of the men with her chest exposed and only bandages showing. It was better if I was the one exposed. I draped my torn under-armor over her and turned my back to her. Unlike my front, my back was relatively free of scars.
"Can't be helped. Get on."
"Heh?!"
"Do I have to say it twice?"
"Th-then, excuse me..."
She climbed onto my back.
—Squish!
I had to endure the sensation of three faces being rubbed against my back simultaneously—an oddly pleasant yet subtle torture. The pressure of her chest was unavoidable due to her figure, but why was she rubbing her face against me?
"Ngh... haa... your back muscles are so..."
"Please, stay still. We're both in an embarrassing state. It's better if you pretend to be unconscious in front of the men."
"Yes..."
Despite the variables, my first major battle as Commander ended in a clean victory.
Baron Bartok, who had reportedly fainted the moment the Ogre hit the gate, made a miraculous recovery as soon as the battle ended.
"Oh, thank you! Thank you all!"
He offered the Black Lions an almost overwhelming level of hospitality. Bartok was a wealthy gateway city, and he declared he would cover all costs for rest and recreation. I decided to stay for a few days to let the men recover. We had to wait for the Inquisitors and Imperial Security anyway. Even if the Baron changed his mind later, I could just write it off as operational expenses.
Fortunately, excluding the casualties from the initial 2nd Century unit, there were no deaths among the reinforcements. Most were minor injuries; even those with lost limbs would be fine once a priest performed a miracle.
"This is the life."
I sprawled out on a plush bed in a top-tier inn, enjoying a rare moment of peace. My subordinates were likely at taverns or brothels by now. As long as they didn't commit crimes, I didn't care.
I was enjoying my laziness when—
—Hoot!
A white snowy owl tapped on the window.
"Oh, damn..."
My heart skipped a beat. I realized I had forgotten something very important. It had been nearly a week since I last wrote to the Princess. I wondered how the bird found me, but that wasn't the point. I opened the letter with trembling hands.
"Gasp!"
The stationery was covered in countless red lip prints—so many it was terrifying. And unlike her usual long letters, there was only one short sentence, written without even a period.
[Look forward to it]