The Conscript Wants to Be Discharged!

With the sound of a huge explosion and the echoing of shouts and screams as our signal, we leaped over the hill and into the rebel camp.

With the rising sun at our backs, we quickly descended the steep hill, rapidly scanning the enemy camp with our eyes to find the main entry points.

‘The cavalry on the enemy’s right flank has collapsed, and the soldiers at the rear haven’t noticed us yet. Most of the mages are distracted by the side where magic is pouring down on the 2nd Unit.’

The enemy’s flank was shaken by the sudden surprise attack, and the mages’ attention was drawn there. However, the elite troops of the rebel camp were positioned at the rear where we needed to enter, and they showed no signs of moving.

“Yujin! The soldiers guarding the rear aren’t planning to move! I’ll use magic to get as close as possible, so charge in at once!”

The soldiers were running down the steep hill, while Eliza was sliding down the slope riding the wind with magic. She was moving the wind as if riding a board, sliding towards the enemy camp at an incredible speed.

Calculating the speed of running down the steep slope and the distance to the enemy by eye, the time left until collision was at most 30 seconds, with only about 200 meters left. However, the enemy, with their attention drawn to the flank, still hadn’t noticed us. We couldn’t avoid fighting them because if we bypassed them without engaging, we would be surrounded from the rear after striking the center.

“Miss! We’re about to collide with the enemy!”

“Everyone, prepare magic to blast open the widest possible area! The soldiers will collide simultaneously with the attack! We’ll slow down and calculate the distance to fire the magic at the precise moment!”

“Yes!”

“Understood, Miss!”

Though muffled by the wind, I could hear Eliza and the mages slowing down and falling back behind the soldiers.

“Everyone, raise your shields!! Those without shields, fall back and push in with the vanguard!”

“Yaaah!”

“Let’s go in!!”

The frontline soldiers charged forward, covering themselves with kite shields made of wooden planks covered with leather. The distance between us and those guarding the enemy’s rear was now less than 100 meters, and we could see the enemy noticing our presence and turning to form their battle lines.

“Wh-what are those guys?!”

“Behind! There are enemies at the rear too!”

“Turn the formation! Everyone, turn around and prepare for collision!”

As expected of elite troops guarding the rear, they quickly adjusted their formation and presented the blades of their halberds. Their defensive formation looked as sturdy and unwavering as their heavily armored suits.

Baramu·Guu·Pokubaal

Whyem·Guu·Buusaa

Hiimora·Chieunu·Baramu

However, no matter how unwavering and sturdy their defensive formation looked, against the attacks of mages – the mobile human turrets of this medieval fantasy world – it was like a sandcastle before the waves. As several magic spells flew over our heads and hit them, the sight of humans flying through the air like bowling pins hit by a bowling ball was something I couldn’t get used to no matter how many times I saw it.

Flames erupted, tearing up the ground, wind exploded, and gales blew the enemy away. Their defensive formation crumbled, and I increased my speed even more, charging into the enemy through the chaotically scattered area where red sparks were riding the wind.

I blocked a halberd swung by a soldier who had somehow managed to withstand the feast of incoming magic with my shield. Before the enemy could pull out the axe blade stuck in the edge of the shield, I pushed forward, shoving the enemies back. Then, swinging my sword through the gap created, I made space for the following soldiers to enter.

Soldiers using halberds are usually elite troops with high training and good equipment. They form formations and move in unison, taking advantage of their polearms to counter cavalry. Using the axe blade and spear tip, they can pull, thrust, and engage both cavalry and infantry. However, in close-quarter combat like this, they’re just all show and no substance.

Clang! Clang!

Thwack! Crack, crackle!

I quickly thrust my longsword held at an angle, accurately piercing the gap below the helmet and taking the enemy’s life. Kicking away the falling body, I blocked the movement of approaching enemies and slipped to the side to swing my sword.

Enemy blood splattered on my face, which was protected only by a helmet covering the head. Tasting the metallic blood that flowed along my eyes into my mouth, I swung my shield and longsword once again.

Magic spells flying towards us, splitting the sky, were oxidized in mid-air by the dispel magic of Eliza and other mages. Wooden splinters that had fallen off shields after blocking incoming attacks scattered in the air. Clashing weapons sparked, and the recoil felt at the tip of the longsword when it caught on the enemy’s weapon and armor made me stagger in the chaotic space. Something instinctively threatening brushed past my temple.

Whoosh!

The sight of a javelin flying past the tip of my nose at incredible speed.

Truly, the javelin that literally brushed past the tip of my nose was so powerful that its passage created some kind of shockwave that tore the tip of my nose, leaving a stinging wound.

“Crazy bastard!”

If I had been even a little slower in dodging, I might have become a human tanghulu with my temple pierced.

No, perhaps my head wouldn’t have been pierced, but rather shattered along with the helmet, dyeing the battlefield red like a well-ripened watermelon bursting open. This thought flashed through my mind for a moment.

Just as this thought crossed my mind, I felt another invisible threat and quickly rolled on the ground. This time, a javelin flew past above my head at a terrifying speed.

“Ugh!”

“Aaaaargh!!”

I heard someone’s death rattle as they left this world without even being able to scream, and screams of those writhing in pain and fear, but I didn’t dare turn around to check.

“You dodged twice? I’m not sure if you’re skilled or just lucky, but there won’t be a next time, commoner.”

Lifting the visor of his expensive-looking helmet and revealing a youthful face, the knight looking at me with green eyes resembled a predator.

A red surcoat embroidered with the crowned lion emblem of the rebel Baudouin, holding a halberd. Beneath the surcoat, chain mail reaching down to the knees and plate mail covering the chest were visible. On the shoulders, he wore metal guards of a completely different price range from my leather protective gear. As he approached with a two-handed sword slung over his shoulder, an intangible haze rose around the knight’s figure.

“Aura Knight.”

Like the mages of this medieval fantasy world, he had received the blessing to awaken and sense mana and mystery. A human weapon who is the protagonist of the battlefield, capable of cutting through formations and changing the course of battle with individual martial prowess.

A knight wielding aura, a living heavy tank, had come to block us who had attacked their rear.

“Shit, how can we beat a bastard like that.”

There are clearly differences in rank among knights who wield aura, and there are words to distinguish these levels. But that’s a story from another world for soldiers like us who are conscripted commoners. Even the aura emitted by this young-looking knight is enough to make our knees weak. What does it matter if the opponent’s level is high or not? If we’re hit by that sword he’s swinging, we’re likely to meet our grandparents from this world we’ve never seen before.

‘It’s hard enough to stop a well-armored knight stirring up trouble among the soldiers, how can we stop a monster like that?’

Even heavily armored knights can ignore the weapons wielded by ordinary soldiers and wreak havoc in enemy lines. How could we possibly stop this human weapon that would require several such knights rushing in together to subdue?

“…If you don’t want to die, you have to try!”

“Hmm? Do you intend to face me? Even if a commoner acts recklessly, you can’t defeat me, but I’ll give you high marks for your courage.”

Although this guy shorter than me was looking down on me as if evaluating from above, I didn’t feel like refuting. It was the truth, and this wasn’t the situation to argue or retort. Instead of moving my mouth, I moved my feet to kick up a fallen halberd from the ground.

The halberd flew rapidly, spinning. The knight swept away the spinning axe blade with one hand as if it were amusing, then kicked off the ground and flew towards me.

Yes, he truly flew.

“Crazy bastard!”

“Haha! Such foul language. Take this!”

The sight of him instantly crossing a distance that would take someone else at least five steps by just stomping his foot truly sent chills down my spine.

Swish!

The opponent attacked, swinging the two-handed sword in his right hand as if it were just a slightly long branch.

I foolishly tried to block his attack by raising my shield, but the corner of my shield was sliced off like a sheet of paper by the tip of his sword, and I fell to the ground.

“Hah!”

As he raised his swung two-handed sword high, about to bring it down on me, soldiers from the Hundred-man Unit sprang out from both sides of the Aura Knight and swung their weapons.

“You bastard! The Hundred-man Captain can’t die before dying by our hands!”

“We haven’t even paid you back for last time, you can’t die here!”

My subordinates attacked, swinging their weapons quickly. But the Aura Knight, as if their attacks couldn’t harm him at all, took the soldiers’ attacks with his body and swung his weapon to the end.

Bang!

With a sound that was hard to believe came from a weapon swung by a human, the ground was overturned and dirt flew everywhere. Thanks to my subordinates’ attacks, even though they couldn’t block it, the tip of the sword wavered. Fortunately, I avoided the attack but was thrown into the air along with the exploding dirt clods from the impact.

“Ugh!”

Without time to thank the subordinates who helped me, I fell to the ground, covered in dirt, and as I rolled on the ground, I saw the sight of a subordinate being knocked away by the Aura Knight’s fist.

“You, bastard!!”

Seeing him about to swing his weapon, raised high once again, at my subordinate, I kicked off the ground, got up, and swung my longsword to attack his wrist.

Clang! Clang clang clang!

Not daring to block the blade directly, I aimed for his wrist, but against the attack coming down with seemingly superhuman strength, his gauntlet ground down my longsword’s blade, only barely stopping the attack when it reached the cross-guard.

“Ugh, uuugh!”

“Hu-Hundred-man Captain.”

I was using all my strength to block the attack, unable even to think about turning my eyes at the sound of my subordinate calling me. But under the pressure of him pushing down on his wrist, my knees were gradually bending, my hand gripping the handle was shaking, and the cross-guard of the longsword was making a metallic sound as if it was about to break.

“…Ha!”

With a laugh as if he found it ridiculous, the knight swung his hand and sent me flying.

“Urgh!”

Only after rolling on the ground a couple of times did I stop. I quickly got up and took a stance.

“To block an attack swung with aura, not with the blade but by attacking the wrist, and then to withstand it with pure strength… You’re an interesting soldier.”

It seemed the Aura Knight’s evaluation of me had risen, but now was neither the situation nor the state to care about that.

‘My arms and legs are in tatters.’

My hands were shaking so much that the tip of my longsword was wavering, and my legs were so wobbly that the stance I had barely managed to take seemed like it would collapse at any moment, making me kneel on the ground.

“This time, I’ll send you off for sure.”

The Aura Knight took a stance to charge at me, gathering his weapon.

The definitive fact that I wouldn’t be able to block twice was imprinted in my mind, and the fear that I would surely die if I couldn’t avoid the next attack no matter what was dominating my brain when.

Bang!

The Aura Knight kicked off the ground and flew towards me.

Boom!

A fireball was shot towards the charging knight.

“Urgh!”

“Hundred-man Captain! Are you alright?!”

The colliding fireball exploded, forcing the knight to retreat, and a mage’s voice asking about my well-being pierced my ears, but what I needed to do wasn’t to answer but to charge at the retreating knight.

“Uaaaaah!”

“What?!”

Seeing the knight pushed back in mid-air by the explosion’s impact, with one leg not yet touching the ground, I ran with all my might and shoved his body to knock him down.

Before the surprised and fallen Aura Knight could swing his weapon, I snatched the two-handed sword from his hand and threw it far away. Just as I was about to pull out the dagger at my waist and stab it into the gap in the knight’s helmet.

“Ugh!”

The knight’s fist exploded into my abdomen, and I was once again lifted into the air and slammed into the ground. As the knight turned to move and pick up his weapon that I hadn’t managed to throw very far.

I saw it.

The sight of a small fireball rotating above Eliza’s head suddenly growing in size and dyeing the battlefield red.

“Everyone, retreat!”

Eliza’s magic, which instantly made the temperature of the battlefield soar, rose into the air following her hand gesture. Other mages used their magic to push away nearby enemies and create an escape route. Seeing this, I abandoned my weapon and dashed towards the escape route.

“Stop! Where do you think you’re going, soldier!!”

To the Aura Knight who was shouting at me as I fled towards the escape route, pushed back by the mages’ magic, I hurled a large bucket of curses.

“F**k you, you dog of a knight! It was disgusting meeting you, just burn to death right there!!”

I picked up fallen subordinates as I ran and quickly got out of the range of Eliza’s magic. Eliza, her red hair fluttering, chanted a spell.

Temeris·Acto·Prazmito!

Eliza’s magic plunged into the center of the enemy lines with the explosion.

Eliza quickly left the battlefield, riding the storm caused by the explosion with the same magic she used to descend the hill.

Wheeeeeeeeee!

An enormous firestorm rose from the center of the enemy lines, and a deafening sound that tore through the air echoed across the battlefield.