[Gremory-Allocen front.]

A clash between cavalry units on a plain is a lot like a game of chicken.

Mount and mount charge at each other with no regard for death, and the rider, with all his weight committed to his mount’s gallop, has to throw everything he’s got into his weapon and steed to kill his opponent and survive.

So once cavalry units clash, the result tends to swing to one extreme or the other, with one side dominating completely. If it’s the cavalry battle of warlike demons, the outcome will be even more extreme.

That’s how it had to go. The collision between Gremory’s orc riders and Allocen’s troll chariots also had to result in one side getting completely swept away.

Clang, clang!

On top of an abandoned chariot, an orc and a troll started tearing into each other with their weapons.

The orc was heavily armed with an axe and hammer, while the troll carried a few short spears. The two grappled on the cramped chariot, swinging their weapons at each other.

CLANG!

The orc’s hammer struck the chariot. The troll, with quick footwork, leapt up over the hammer and gripped his short spear.

"Die!"

The tip of the short spear thrust at the orc aimed for his heart. The orc let go of his axe and hurriedly grabbed the spearhead.

Crunch!

The orc caught the blade with his leather glove. The sharply honed spearhead had enough cutting power to slice through gloves easily, but unfortunately for the troll, these weren’t ordinary leather gloves.

"Monster hide?!"

The troll realized that the leather of the gloves clutching his spearhead came from a fairly powerful monster.

"Whoaaa!"

Having neutralized the thrust just before getting his heart pierced, the orc snatched the short spear away. The troll hurriedly jumped down from the hammer and rolled to the side.

Whoosh!

The short spear the orc threw grazed the troll’s thigh and stuck in the ground. The orc and troll glared at each other, breathing hard.

"You! Hold still!"

"You first, just die already!"

The orc’s armor was solid, but it couldn’t keep up with the troll’s speed.

The troll moved quickly, but couldn’t land a strike on the orc’s vital points.

For every five attacks the troll made, all five were blocked by the orc’s armor, and every time the orc seized an opportunity to attack, the troll dodged.

"Just one hit, just take one hit!"

"If I get hit by that, I’m dead!"

"Whoaaaa!"

"Trroooll!"

What was supposed to be a one-shot fight by cavalry charge had devolved into a brawl on top of a chariot. And right next to where the orc and troll were fighting, there was a literal dogfight going on.

GROAR!

The worwolf swung its forepaw in a wide arc and clocked a mutant chariot dog upside the head. The chariot dog hurriedly turned its head, but the claws raked across the dog’s eye area.

Splurt!

Red blood burst from the chariot dog’s eye. The worwolf opened its jaws and leapt high to finish the dog off, but it got slammed in the side by another chariot dog and went rolling across the ground.

Snarl!

The chariot dog’s teeth sank into the worwolf’s side. The moment the chariot broke and the muzzle came off, the chariot dog latched onto the worwolf like a rabid mutt.

Yelp!

The worwolf raised its forepaw and clubbed the top of the chariot dog’s head where it was biting its side. Then another chariot dog with a wound near its eye lunged at it from above.

2 to 1.

Even if the orc rider was fighting 1 on 1, the worwolf serving as the mount had to handle two chariot dogs at the same time. It was the same for the other worwolves, and some were even taking on three chariot dogs at once.

Snarl!

But the worwolves fought hard against the chariot dogs. Their 3-star spec and the experience from the legion’s recent battles had made them strong.

The chariot dogs that had been fused into one for the troll chariot were only 2-star rank. Without their numerical advantage, they would’ve already had their throats torn out by the worwolves, but using that numerical advantage, they were just barely holding on against the worwolves.

A melee.

A brawl unimaginable in cavalry warfare had broken out. The mastermind behind this insanity, which Allocen would never have considered, was Gremory, riding her unicorn.

"The orcs assault the chariots and the worwolves attack the chariot dogs.... Crazy idea, but it caught me off guard."

Allocen smiled bitterly at Gremory’s tactic.

"Weren’t they a bound force?"

"They were. Our legion’s main strength is composing forces flexibly so we can adapt to any situation at any time."

Right before impact. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The orcs leapt off the worwolves’ backs and jumped onto the chariots.

The worwolves, having lost their orc riders, abandoned their role as mounts and revealed their true colors as hunters.

"Whose idea was this? Doesn’t seem like yours, Gremory."

"It was everyone’s idea. I’m not the only one in our legion who’s desperate to win."

"Impressive. Very appealing. The more so, the more you’re worth fighting."

Allocen gripped the spears strapped to his back, one in each hand. With a spear in each fist, he snorted and shouted boldly.

"This is the level a fight needs to be at! Bwahaha, glad I stayed alive! The fight against the human alliance was so dull I wanted to die!"

"Loving bloody slaughter is the same for any demon. Personally, I..."

Whoosh.

A massive fireball formed above Gremory’s raised hand.

"I love it when enemies burn or explode in my magic."

"As expected of the Red Witch! Even after switching bodies to a fallen angel, your nature hasn’t changed!"

Allocen gripped the reins. Unlike the other troll chariots’ chariot dogs, the mount pulling Allocen’s chariot was a three-headed male lion.

"Circle around, Cerberus!"

GROARRR!

At Allocen’s command, Cerberus started driving the chariot at high speed. Not charging at Gremory directly, but circling around her in a wide arc.

"Tch!"

Gremory let the mana she’d been gathering above her head dissipate and ducked her head. A sharp short spear whistled past the top of her head. A few strands of her red hair scattered.

"You bastard!"

"If I charged head-on you’d shoot me right then and there! Bwahaha, just because the witch’s body changed doesn’t mean her essence has! You’re a beast of the field!"

Allocen pulled out a spear stuck in his chariot and grinned fiercely.

"And I am the hunter who hunts you!"

"As if."

Gremory stood up on both feet on the unicorn’s saddle and sneered at Allocen. Mana started gathering in the pure white wings spread behind her.

"Are those wings for show? Pfft."

"...I am the hunter who hunts winged beasts!"

Allocen’s short spear flew at Gremory. Thrown in anticipation of Gremory taking flight, the short spear pierced Gremory’s heart precisely.

"Got her!"

"It’s a clone."

"Wha---"

Above the orb.

The real Gremory flapped her wings and detonated the orb of mana.

"Just my body changed, my techniques are still the same."

The moment the orb burst, blades of magic power scattered in every direction.

***

[Rok-Hagenti front.]

If Gremory had dragged Allocen into a melee, Rok had dragged Hagenti into a chaotic, messy fight.

"Break through! What are you doing?! Be ready to take hits and break through!"

"Rapid fire! Don’t let them cross the line under any circumstances!"

The minotaur unit desperately trying to cross the line and the cookie elf unit desperately trying to hold it. The two units clashed sharply over the boundary Rok had drawn.

"GROOOAAR!!"

The minotaurs swung their weapons to swat away the wind arrows. As powerful as each minotaur was reputed to be, their baseline was 3-star rank, and over half of them were 4-star monsters that had evolved one step further.

Their forces were about half a star ahead of the cookie elves’ average rank. What made up that gap was Rok’s wide-area buff.

THUD THUD THUD THUD!

The sound of flesh striking flesh spread across the entire battlefield. The cookie elves, smelling the scent imbued with red aura, felt their blood start to boil.

Boom, boom, boom.

Their hearts were beating so fast they’d lost some of the calm needed for precision shooting, but it was the perfect buff for indiscriminate close-range fire rather than long-range sniping.

Thwip thwip thwip!

The cookie elves loosed arrows from head to toe at any minotaur crossing the line. Even if they couldn’t hit a vital point themselves, they could only hope another cookie elf’s stray arrow would hit a vital spot.

"GROOAARR!"

The lead minotaur let out a mournful cry and pitched forward. After his knee got concentrated fire, he dragged his leg forward, but an arrow lodged in his forehead finally killed him.

"That makes three."

It was a snipe from Luna, who’d been controlling her breathing while holding a bow as tall as she was. There was no divine power infused in the shot, but Luna used her elven archery skills to hold the line.

"Don’t let them get any closer!"

There were already more than a few minotaurs collapsed on the ground.

"You bastards!"

When the minotaurs couldn’t push forward, Hagenti finally stepped up himself. He picked up a fallen minotaur from beyond the line.

"Insolent elves!"

Hagenti carried his dead subordinate’s corpse and crossed the line. The cookie elves hurriedly shot arrows at Hagenti’s body.

Thwip thwip thwip!

"What the...!"

"How could he do that to his own subordinate!"

Hagenti used his own subordinate’s corpse as a shield to block the wind arrows. Lowering his massive body as much as possible to hide behind the corpse, Hagenti blocked the concentrated fire without spilling a single drop of blood himself.

"Do the same, you bastards! Watching them carry on like that over there, doesn’t your pride sting?!"

Hagenti pointed at the scene of intercourse happening right next to Luna. The orc and the high elf, ignoring the battle around them, were sharing what they called love, an insane act of passion.

"The dead are already dead! I’ll resurrect every single one of them after this battle, so pick them up!"

"Grooar..."

The minotaurs picked up their comrades’ corpses with tears in their eyes. With sturdy shields suddenly available, the minotaurs let out battle cries and started advancing one step at a time.

"Hagenti, you disgusting creature!"

"You’re the most disgusting, dark elf! Don’t shout with that mouth that’s been sucking orc dick! Your mouth reeks like a rag!"

"Why you!"

Luna got furious and raised her bow. The stigmata on her lower abdomen blazed, and a faint glow began to settle on Luna’s bow.

Thwiiip!

Without a word, Luna loosed an arrow. Shot like a beam of light, the arrow pierced through a minotaur in an instant.

"K-krgh...!"

Hagenti, hiding behind his subordinate-shield, let out a low groan. The bow of Luna, a cookie elf and queen, carried divine power that was lethal to demons. There was a hole the size of a man’s head punched through the shield’s thigh.

Through the hole, blood started flowing from Hagenti’s waist. Luna’s snipe had succeeded in piercing the shield and wounding Hagenti’s body.

"Th-this much is nothing!"

"...Tch."

Luna had landed the attack, but Luna was also the one clicking her tongue in disappointment.

Hummmm.

Luna’s stigmata flickered and dimmed slightly. It was now obvious she’d used up some of her divine power, and Hagenti laughed wildly and took another step forward.

"Just that much?! And with that little power, you dared to plot against me?! Stop banging and answer me, orc!"

"He’s busy banging her, so shut up!"

"Kyaaaah!!"

Luna answered for Rok. From behind, Lune’s moan as she hit her peak echoed in all directions. Hagenti stripped the lower half off the dead subordinate and waved the body around.

"This place is a den of perverts! Take a look at this, you lewd dark elves!"

"Defiling the dead and sexual harassment on top of that... heaven and earth would weep at what you’re doing."

The orc, Rok, finally stood up. He was holding Lune, who’d been worn out as if she’d passed out, in his arms and rocking her like a baby. Down below, the penetration was still going on.

"If it were me, I would’ve dropped my pants and waved my own around."

"You bastard, even now!"

"I told you not to cross the line. The audience trying to jump onto the stage. ...Hngh."

Rok tilted his head back and pulled Lune tightly to him. The shaft he was showing off thickened, and soon, instead of love juices, a white sticky liquid started flowing down from below Lune.

"Hwahh. Shot all the way to the ceiling. Almost felt like the womb’s ceiling was about to come crashing down. Heh."

"H-how far do you intend to humiliate me?!"

"To the depths of hell. A high elf princess you’ll never get to taste in your life. I get to have her every day."

Rok turned his body slightly. Lune, her eyes glazed over, turned her gaze toward Hagenti, stuck out her tongue a little, then immediately started tongue kissing Rok.

"Bwahh. Serves you right, Hagenti. You should’ve known better than to mess with these girls, even if you were going to insult me. But I told you not to cross the line. Luna."

"I’ve been waiting! Everyone, raise your bows!"

The cookie elves lifted their bows high. Toward the ceiling.

"Feel like your world’s collapsing? The ceiling’s about to collapse too."

Lune and I kissed and shouted at the same time.

""Liiiime!""

Rumble rumble rumble.

The entire dungeon began to shake very slowly.