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"Is that the Empire's Great General, Esdeath!!!"
Numa Seika stared in shock at the tens of thousands of soldiers instantly frozen solid.
Even though he had already overestimated her strength, he still hadn't expected to underestimate her this badly.
Thinking of this, Numa Seika hurriedly turned to the adjutant beside him.
"Order the troops to halt their advance and establish defensive formations immediately!"
"Yes, sir!"
The adjutant nodded without hesitation.
As the order spread through the ranks, the slowly advancing six hundred thousand strong army abruptly came to a stop as if someone had pressed pause.
"Oh, Numa Seika really does have some skill. Training a six hundred thousand strong army to obey orders so precisely isn't easy."
"You can't call him incompetent. He's just unlucky enough to run into Esdeath."
Kaito watched the battlefield with a surprised expression.
"Ice Knights!"
Ice-forged knights continuously rose from the frozen ground.
In only a short time, they covered thousands of meters before Esdeath.
"Defend!!!"
Seeing the sudden appearance of the Ice Knights, the frontline commander of the foreign army immediately shouted.
After receiving the order, the soldiers suppressed their fear as they looked at their comrades frozen into ice sculptures.
They raised their massive shields, hiding their entire bodies behind them.
Seeing this, Esdeath's lips curled into a crazed smile.
"Hahaha! Excellent, excellent! This is how it should be! Only prey that resists is worth killing!"
"All of you, die!!!"
The moment her words fell, countless Ice Knights charged forward, crossing the battlefield in an instant.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The frozen soldiers shattered one after another beneath the Ice Knights' attacks.
The army of knights continued advancing at terrifying speed, instantly reaching the shield-bearing soldiers.
After that, the Ice Knights plunged into the six hundred thousand strong army like chopsticks piercing tofu, beginning an overwhelming slaughter.
"Ahhh!!!"
"Help me!"
"What are these things?! Why can't they be cut down?! They're monsters!!!"
One foreign soldier screamed in despair as he stared at the completely unharmed Ice Knight before him.
Before he could say anything else, the knight's weapon pierced straight through his body.
Only a corpse remained on the ground, his eyes still wide open in death.
"So this is a Teigu user from the Empire? How can she possibly be this powerful?"
Numa Seika clenched his teeth, his face dark as he watched his soldiers being massacred.
"This can't continue. Adjutant, the army is yours to command. I'm going to stop that woman myself!"
"Yes, Your Royal Highness! I wish you victory in battle!"
The adjutant nodded firmly before offering his blessing with concern.
Hearing those words, Numa Seika revealed a relieved smile and softly replied:
"Don't worry. I won't fall before we break through the Empire."
With that, he snapped his whip and galloped toward Esdeath.
"Tsk tsk tsk. Look at the flag he's raising, no wonder his ending was so tragic. Even I wouldn't dare say something like that."
Kaito watched Numa Seika charge toward Esdeath with the gaze of someone admiring a fearless warrior.
"Indeed. That line is only slightly better than saying he'll get married after the war."
Rimuru nodded in agreement.
"Looks like it's almost our turn to appear. The Hero of the North is about to log off, and a brand-new hero is about to debut!"
"Gobta, get the troops ready. I'm absolutely going to make an amazing entrance this time!"
Kaito ordered the yawning Gobta beside him.
"Huh?"
Caught off guard by the sudden command, Gobta froze for a moment.
But the instant he noticed Sakuya narrowing her eyes, he immediately snapped to attention.
"Yes, Kaito-sama! Don't worry, everything is ready!"
Hearing Gobta's shout, Kaito nodded and returned his attention to the battlefield.
"Hmph, finally a slightly bigger minion has shown up?"
Esdeath crossed her arms as she watched Numa Seika galloping toward her, a playful expression on her face.
"Thud!"
Numa Seika landed before Esdeath, raised his cavalry spear, and pointed it at her.
"This is as far as you go! I won't allow you to continue slaughtering my soldiers, General of the Empire!"
"If you have the ability, then stop me. Otherwise, I think you'd make an excellent slave."
"To underestimate me like this... you'll pay for looking down on me!"
"Take this!"
With that, Numa Seika charged forward and thrust his cavalry spear toward her face.
Esdeath merely tilted her body slightly and effortlessly avoided the attack.
Seeing his thrust fail, Numa Seika instantly shifted into a sweeping strike.
"Clang..."
Esdeath drew the saber at her waist and blocked the sweeping spear shaft with one hand.
At the same time, the armies on both sides finally collided.
In an instant, battle cries and screams echoed endlessly across the battlefield, while the thick scent of blood attracted flocks of crows circling overhead.
They simply waited for the battle to end so they could descend and feast.
"Clang... clang... clang..."
Numa Seika and Esdeath exchanged dozens of blows within moments.
Yet Esdeath only defended without launching a single counterattack.
"Damn it, are you looking down on me?!"
After having every attack effortlessly deflected, Numa Seika finally roared in frustration.
"Looking down on you? I just don't want my toy breaking too quickly."
Esdeath casually knocked aside his weapon and answered indifferently.
"What?!"
"You dare treat me as a toy! *2"
"You've completely enraged me! *2"
"Who's copying my lines?! *2"
"You're still copying me! *2"
At that moment, not only Numa Seika but even Esdeath, who had remained calm until now, turned in surprise toward the source of the voice.
At the edge of the battlefield, where the two armies clashed, a force of fifteen thousand soldiers had appeared unnoticed.
A young man holding a bizarre loudspeaker looked at the two of them with a mocking expression.
"Kai-chan, this battlefield has hundreds of thousands of soldiers. With that broken loudspeaker of yours, who exactly do you think can hear you?"
Rimuru looked at Kaito speechlessly.
"Ah, you just don't understand. This isn't an ordinary loudspeaker. This is 'The Big Loudspeaker That Lets Anyone I Want To Hear, Hear!'"
"What kind of ridiculous name is that?"
"Heh heh. It's still a loudspeaker."
"Tch."
Kaito had received the loudspeaker from a sign-in reward two days earlier.
Its name really was 'The Big Loudspeaker That Lets Anyone I Want To Hear, Hear!'
Its ability was exactly as the name implied, which was why both Esdeath and Numa Seika could clearly hear Kaito's voice.
"So an unexpected guest has arrived. Hahaha! I hope they can provide me with some entertainment!"
A cold smile appeared on Esdeath's face, her eyes overflowing with madness...