On the Pandora Continent, it is possible for races resembling monsters, such as goblins, orcs, and golems, to coexist and prosper alongside humans, in addition to elves and dwarves.
However, those who share similar appearances but live instinctually, such as feral goblins, fall into the classification of monsters.
What is crucial for the inhabitants of Pandora is not their appearance but the intelligence and reason they can understand each other with.
In contrast, on the Ark Continent, which is ruled by humans, particularly in areas where the teachings of the Cross Religion have spread, what matters most is whether one is ‘human or not.’
Even among the same race of humans, the differences in deities they believe in lead them to call each other heretics and engage in violence against one another. Accepting other races whose appearances and forms differ significantly is, at least within the current context of the Cross Religion, impossible.
The name ‘demon race’ was born from this sentiment, serving as a derogatory term that groups together intelligent beings who are not human, unlike wild monsters.
For those who believe in the Cross Religion, ‘demon race’ can be discussed on the same level as monsters, and there is no hesitation to kill them; rather, they likely feel joy at having eliminated ‘enemies of God.’
With such strong discriminatory consciousness, the Daedalus invasion that occurred six months ago was carried out.
It was the first official conflict between humans of the Sinclair Republic and the demon race of Daedalus.
However, the two thousand knights and the Daedalus defense forces did not engage in anything that could be truly called a ‘battle.’
Though they were called knights, their true intent was to claim the treasures of gold and silver that lay beyond the walls of Daedalus, behaving much like bandits, and their reckless assault on the demon race reflected the same mindset.
But this time was different.
Led by an apostle and an archbishop dispatched from the homeland, a strict command system was established, and the soldiers operating under it were not those who had crossed over to Pandora seeking wealth but rather fervent believers who saw it as their mission to dedicate the land to God.
Thus, the army of the Sinclair Republic, having come to dominate half of the Ark Continent, would demonstrate its true strength in battle against the army of the demon race.
In the skies, Apostle Sariel faced off against Dragon King Gavinal, while on the ground, fifteen thousand Crusaders clashed head-on with twenty thousand Daedalus troops.
“——Do not break formation!
We must endure until His Excellency defeats the Evil Dragon!!”
Maxwell, who had passed the armed scripture and sent off Sariel, joined the front lines and fought bravely.
What he referred to as ‘formation’ was the superior combat technique developed by humans over the demon race.
Both humans and demon races fought wielding swords and wearing armor while speaking the same language.
However, there was a distinct difference in their methods of fighting.
This difference was most pronounced in large-scale battles like the current one.
Demon races, which excel in physical ability and magical power, prioritized individual strength above all.
Collaboration among a small group that could be named a team or a flock was possible to some extent, but they lacked the ability to maneuver and coordinate a group of over a hundred like limbs.
In fact, the very concept of fighting in such a large group did not exist for them.
That is why even Dragon King Gavinal, who built a nation in one generation, would not command his twenty thousand subordinates but faced Sariel in a one-on-one duel.
Unaware of humans other than those living on the Pandora Continent, Gavinal did not view the situation of a commander challenging an enemy commander to a duel as abnormal.
For the demon race, it was quite common for the strongest to become kings, and it was not unusual for commanders to engage in one-on-one battles on the battlefield.
As a result, Gavinal had no doubts when he saw Sariel approaching him alone.
However, in the human world, where it is not necessarily the strongest who become kings, a one-on-one duel is nothing more than a pastime.
Furthermore, it is irrational for a commander, who leads soldiers, to confront an enemy commander alone.
This is because, in human armies, it is not the strong who lead, but those who excel in command ability.
Of course, there are military officials called generals who possess high combat capabilities individually, but that is also accompanied by the ability to command.
Thus, it was a scheme of exceptional ingenuity that Sariel, despite being the Commander-in-Chief of the Crusaders, delegated all command authority to his deputy Lucrom while challenging the enemy commander to a duel.
Regardless, for the demon race, individual combat ability is paramount, and those who can become kings are maximally respected for it.
Thus, even with an army numbering twenty thousand, their operational methods are limited to three options: charge, defend, or retreat.
When the king gives the command to charge, the soldiers simply charge forward, driven by their own momentum.
They would retreat only when the king is slain, they find themselves in a clearly losing position, or the enemy breaks ranks.
In other words, the demon race considers the timing to fight but relies solely on the individual strength of its members for combat.
However, humans cannot afford such luxury.
In this other world, the existence of magic is also present, and there exist individuals with overwhelming combat capabilities like Sariel.
Yet their nature remains fundamentally the same as that of the original world where Chrono existed.
Humans have physical abilities that are inferior to other wild animals alone; however, through their wisdom and collective action, they ascend to the pinnacle of living beings.
Although they are still at a medieval civilization level, humans in the other world, like those in Chrono’s world, have developed strategies, tactics, and various combat techniques.
One of these is the method of efficiently fighting as a group, that is, ‘formation.’
In this battle, the Crusaders are able to endure the formidable attacks of the demon army, even while facing the disadvantage of individual power differences and being outnumbered by five thousand troops, thanks to the ‘formation’ maintained through rigorous training and precise command.
“Fire of Tuesday, blazing rod, spear pierces——Incantation complete, ready to fire!”
“Now! Flame spear!!”
A unit of mages stands in neat rows, waving their staves to unleash magic.
The infantry equipped with long spears protects them while buying time for their incantation.
As the wall of flames erupts, the Daedalus soldiers engulfed in fire, followed by a rain of arrows to add to their misery.
“Damn it, the monster is still alive!”
Burned by fire, pierced by arrows, they still raise their swords to strike, but are finally slain, impaled by the long spear formation.
Their formidable life force is on full display, yet the cohesive formation of the Crusaders does not waver in its solid defenses.
The formation holding back the charge of the Daedalus soldiers on this front line is known as the ‘phalanx.’
With soldiers lined up in rows of equal length, it appears square from above.
It can respond to attacks from any side, and while lacking in mobility, it possesses a very high level of defense.
The phalanx is composed of three types: spear wielders, archers, and mages.
The spear users employ pikes, six-meter-long pole weapons, effective as anti-cavalry weapons on the Ark Continent.
Though they are infantry now, they are effectively meeting the charge of the formidable Daedalus soldiers, showing the power of heavy cavalry.
These spear users are densely packed in a square formation, surrounded by archers equipped with longbows and crossbows, and mages trained in long-range attack magic.
If Chrono were observing the current phalanx, he would likely think it resembled the Spanish phalanx.
Replacing the mages with gunmen armed with muskets would yield a Spanish phalanx from the real world.
Moreover, in a world where magic exists, mages are not only substitutes for muskets; they also provide support effects like enhancements and healing.
However, even though both the infantry and the mages of the Crusaders exert their full power and fight fiercely, they find themselves on the defensive against the strong Daedalus army.
No matter how high the individual capabilities of the demon race may be, without their own concept of formation, the defensive strength of the phalanx only serves to temporarily halt their charges.
“Lord Sariel, please grant us a miracle…”
Lucrom, the archbishop and vice commander of the Crusaders, murmured as he looked up at the skies where Sariel was locked in a deadly battle with the Dragon King.
Arus and Lucrom have a history of liberating areas along the western border of the Sinclair Republic where heretics flourished.
Their contributions were recognized, and Arus rose to the position of cardinal, while Lucrom became an archbishop at a young age.
Despite being in their teens, Lucrom’s experience from waging war against heretics and emerging victorious was effective even in this conflict against the demon race.
However, even with Lucrom’s solid experience and exceptional command skill, supported by fifteen thousand elite soldiers comprised of devout Crusaders, they still lacked the strength to overcome the powerful Daedalus soldiers.
To lead the Crusaders to victory, it was essential to defeat the Dragon King Gavinal, the supreme commander of the Daedalus army.
The Crusaders, who were at a standoff or even slightly disadvantaged, could only hope to overturn the situation with Sariel as the Commander-in-Chief, and it could only be Sariel, the Seventh Apostle, who could single-handedly defeat the Dragon King, who possessed power equivalent to an army of thousands.
Whether the Crusaders would grasp glorious victory or face a gruesome defeat now rested on the shoulders of a small white girl named Sariel.
“I received feedback that a story without the protagonist is difficult,” I have also come to agree with this.
Narrating a story that cannot be told from the perspective of the protagonist is indeed very challenging.
I do not intend to drag this out for too long, so I kindly ask you to bear with me until the narrative returns to the protagonist in Chapter 4.