"These…could it be…"
Ritsuka stared at the hundreds of heavily armored warhorses before her, her eyelid twitching involuntarily.
"King Ophis, are you seriously thinking that a few hundred cavalrymen can break through a blockade of tens of thousands of demonic beasts?"
She had been briefly surprised when Ophis brought out a force that shouldn't even exist in this era, but given the current crisis, restricting military strength just to preserve historical accuracy would be foolish—so she could accept it, grudgingly.
But…having experienced the last Singularity, Ritsuka knew all too well: heavy cavalry was indeed formidable against ordinary infantry, unstoppable even…but they were dealing with demonic beasts here!
Facing creatures like that required steady, organized formations—wasn't charging head-on just suicidal?
Forget about fighting—wouldn't the horses panic and lose control the moment they laid eyes on those beasts?
Wouldn't a squad of lightly armored cavalry performing guerrilla tactics be far more practical?
Ignoring her questions, Ophis merely turned to look behind.
Over five hundred fully armed soldiers stood at attention, their formation neat and disciplined.
These five hundred and six men, given blessings half a year ago, remained intact—not a single loss to date.
This wasn't particularly surprising. While Ophis's blood drastically boosted their physical abilities, Ophis's very nature was Infinity itself.
Rather than raw power enhancement, Ophis blood's greatest value was its extraordinary ability to preserve life.
Minor injuries would rapidly heal, and even if their hearts were pierced or their heads severed, they still wouldn't immediately die.
Under normal circumstances, such injuries would be fatal, of course. But Ophis had Medea on hand.
[Pain Breaker]—it calculated and restored a subject's original, perfect form, overcoming anything except true death itself. A miracle comparable to rewinding time.
Thus, these five hundred men, essentially mass-produced, weaker versions of Siegfried, formed Ophis's elite troops. Aside from the Servants, they were Medea's most frequent patients on the battlefield. Coupled with dragon-blood-enhanced defenses that rendered them nearly invulnerable…
In short, even if these five hundred soldiers wished to die, it would actually prove rather difficult.
"My King!"
The soldiers stamped their weapons against the ground, shouting as one voice.
Ophis nodded slightly, glancing toward Jeanne, who nodded back and waved her hand.
Two hundred warriors stepped forward from the ranks, selecting mounts with practiced efficiency and mounting swiftly.
"Wait—are we seriously sending cavalry against demonic beasts?"
Ritsuka stared in disbelief.
At this point, though, panic had faded. She knew Ophis wouldn't casually send hundreds of soldiers to their deaths—there must be some hidden strategy.
Seeing Ophis's apparent reluctance to answer, Jeanne stepped forward in her stead.
"These horses were raised by King Ophis through special methods, regularly fed with blood from the highest-class Phantasmal Species. Now these warhorses could be considered half-Phantasmal themselves. They have no direct combat abilities, true, but as mounts, they can easily charge through ranks of beasts."
"They can ram elephants moving at cheetah speeds," Ophis added casually.
Ritsuka's eyelid twitched again.
Ramming elephants…? Just how absurdly did you mod these things…? And highest-class Phantasmal Species—what was that supposed to mean? Aside from a few mutants, weren't dragons the only Phantasmal Species of that class?
Ideally, capturing and modifying wyverns or similar creatures would've been best, but Ophis had no intention of entering a beast-taming competition with the Goddess of Demonic Beasts when it counted. Instead, as a safer choice, she selected horses—at least somewhat related to dragons through mythology—infusing them little by little with her blood to create these dragon-horse hybrids, serving as mounts for this unit.
"A cavalry unit of two hundred men should tear a hole in the beast encirclement in a short burst. You should quickly enter the forest under their cover."
Ritsuka's expression immediately darkened.
According to Ophis, these two hundred men were essentially sacrifices, their chances of survival practically zero.
She opened her mouth to speak but found no better solution to offer.
They might break through using Servants and Command Seals, true—but then, exhausted and without trump cards, how would they confront the Goddess afterward?
Lily frowned slightly, glancing at Merlin.
"Teacher, can't your illusions help us avoid the beasts and infiltrate the forest instead?"
"That's right! Merlin-san, illusion magic should be your specialty, isn't it?"
Mash's eyes lit up, looking hopefully at Merlin as well.
But Merlin shook his head.
"Ah, I'm flattered Lily-chan and Mash-chan think so highly of me! Unfortunately, I'm at my absolute limit. Besides, that fake Enkidu will be thoroughly prepared against my illusions this time. It might have worked as a surprise tactic, but forcing our way through with illusions alone is completely impossible."
"What!? Even Merlin can't handle this?"
An incredulous shout suddenly erupted from the communicator, causing even Merlin's expression to darken visibly.
"Hm… Blind faith in others isn't healthy, Romani. To fix this terrible habit, how about dying and reincarnating once?"
"…!"
"Doctor? Doctor?"
Mash called out repeatedly, tilting her head quizzically.
"Senpai, communication with the doctor appears to have been cut off…"
"Forget that idiot."
Ritsuka sighed, refocusing her determined gaze upon Ophis.
"So, this really is the only way?"
Ophis hesitated for a fraction of a second before nodding softly.
"If breaking through the beasts was our only goal, we'd have many options. But considering all other factors, this is currently our optimal choice."
"I see…"
Ritsuka released a heavy breath, then nodded decisively.
"Understood."
Throughout this journey, many had sacrificed themselves for her sake—but she never intended to grow accustomed to it.
Carrying the will of the fallen, surviving, achieving their goal—that was something she must accomplish.
"In that case, allow me to lead the first squad of one hundred to break open the encirclement."
Seeing Ritsuka's acceptance, Jeanne stepped forward.
"Jeanne-san?"
"Yes, we never had the chance to greet each other properly earlier. We meet again, Ritsuka-san."
Jeanne gave a gentle nod, smiling warmly.
"Mm. I'll be relying on you again this time!"
Ritsuka felt reassured knowing Jeanne was leading the cavalry.
Even though the French cavalry had famously performed disastrously in the Hundred Years' War, that hardly meant they'd vanished from history. Jeanne's experience commanding cavalry was virtually unmatched here.
If anyone else could match her ability in this regard…
Jeanne's gaze drifted to Lily, who was still standing there with a slightly bewildered look.
"Well, then. The second squad of one hundred… I'll entrust to you, Lily—no, I should say, King Arthur, Artoria-dono!"
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