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At that moment.

In the Imperial Territory of Lesvos, two factions were clashing in a bloody battle on the plains.

“In the name of the Moon Goddess—!!”

Holy Knights, draped in blue moonlight, advanced forward. Mounted on horned unicorns, they charged valiantly with their blue spears created from divine power stretched forward.

“Charge—!!”

Overwhelming destruction accompanied by divine energy.

Their opponents were the dark and sinister ghostly steeds and ghost knights emitting black light.

“Fall back!”

The ghostly steeds fled from the Holy Knights.

The ghost knights attempted a ‘counter-attack’, trying to create distance.

Was it to escape?

No.

The ghost steeds increased the gap from the Holy Knights while their ghost knights twisted their spines 180 degrees and flipped upside down.

“Reload, fire!”

Click.

The ghost knights pulled something from between their ribs.

It was a ‘rifle’, similar to the magical firearms trending in the distant Anari Principality but bulkier than typical ones.

“Fire—!”

Tatata-tan!!

The rifles of the ghost knights, who turned their bodies, unleashed a volley simultaneously.

The magical bullets infused with the ghost knights’ mana surged towards the Holy Knights faster than arrows.

“In the name of the Moon Goddess—!!”

The Holy Knights extended their spears forward.

Protecting their horses, the steeds believed in the armor covering their bodies and did not reduce their pace.

Kaang—!!

The magical bullets struck the skin of the Holy Knights.

With bodies almost naked, a mere branch would probably leave a wound.

However.

“Faith shall be my shield!”

As soon as the magical bullets hit the Holy Knights’ bodies, a flicker of blue light appeared, and the bullets ricocheted off to the side.

A slight reduction in speed occurred due to some resistance, but the ghost knights’ fire could not slow the advance of the Holy Knights.

Hee-haw—!

Another group of steeds began charging toward the Holy Knights.

Unlike the ghost steeds, a herd of bones ran starkly.

The knights in black armor atop skeleton steeds glared with red light from their eyes, holding something aloft.

“Vice Captain! The Knights of Death are to the left!”

“Guh, appearing suddenly like this! Such cowardice!!”

Clatter.

As the skeleton steeds rushed terrifyingly, the Knights of Death aimed their magical shotguns at the Holy Knights.

Specifically, not at the Holy Knights themselves, but at the horses they rode.

“Protect the steeds!”

“Hee-haw—!”

The Holy Knights quickly thrust their spears toward the shotgun’s trajectory.

Whoosh!

The lances shimmering in blue moonlight flared out like umbrellas, becoming a wide circular shield to block the shot.

Pabababab.

The spread-out shotgun pellets of the Knights of Death were halted by the shield.

The attacks aimed at the steeds were rendered ineffective, having no effect other than stopping the Holy Knight Order’s advance.

“Now’s the time!”

“Open fire—!”

The ghost knights and Knights of Death unleashed a barrage of fire toward the Holy Knights all at once.

Pledging to use even their mana, bullets were poured down until they ran out.

“Ugh, argh…!”

“Open formation! Protect the horses!”

The Holy Knights formed a circle and piled the moonlight shields on top of each other.

It’s fine for a person to be hit by magical bullets.

All the Holy Knights are ‘female knights’, and the female knights are safe under the blessing of the moonlight.

However, the steeds are different.

The blessing of the Moon Goddess is only given to humans.

Merely being beasts, if the steeds do not have the Holy Knights’ divine power shields, they would be filled with holes from the magical bullets of the undead knights.

Tatata-tan!

The magical bullets did not stop, and the Holy Knights were soon isolated in the enemy’s midst.

“We hold out until the enemy’s mana runs dry! It is night! The blessing of the Moon Goddess is infinite!”

The Holy Knights believed in the blessing of moonlight.

They trusted the divine protection contained within their bodies.

Look!

At the blue moon hanging in the sky.

As long as that moon sends its light, the Holy Knight Order—

Gu-gu-gu-gu.

“What…?!”

A shroud of darkness draped across the sky.

As if a vast cloth was unfurling overhead, the blue moon began to be obscured.

“No way…!”

“It’s the Flying Lich!”

Winged undead sorcerers fluttering in the sky.

They spread their bony wings, drawing magic circles with their skeletal hands, casting a veil of darkness across the night sky that began to cover the blue moon.

Right above where the knight order had halted.

“Guh! Vice Captain! If this continues, the moonlight will disappear! The blessing of the Moon Goddess!”

“Move in line with the chant! Maintain formation and keep moving forward!”

Thud, thud, thud.

The isolated Holy Knights maintained their shields while moving slowly.

Although it wasn’t part of regular training, in this life-or-death moment, the horses moved systematically under orders.

“Damn it, if we don’t move quickly…!”

Swish.

A bullet grazed my shoulder.

Normally, it wouldn’t have hurt at all, but now, with the moonlight obscured by the enemy’s magic veil, I felt a slight sting.

The blessing of moonlight was still present, but its strength was waning.

The shield spread out like an umbrella also shrank, and the horses were starting to whinny in pain as they were grazed by magical bullets.

No matter how slowly we moved, if they advanced faster than we did, it would be over.

The darkness curtain cast by the Flying Lich was chasing the knight order, but they were desperately trying to escape from it even faster.

“Aah, it’s coming!!”

The Holy Knights hurriedly raised their heads.

In the dark night sky, something blackened was falling toward the Holy Knights.

Meteor spell?

Or something else?

“Those with extra room, cast shields upward! ‘It’ is descending!”

“A-ah…!!”

At that moment.

Reflected in the moonlight, the unidentifiable presence was a Skeleton.

On the skeletal spine, a massive barrel—a barrel filled with oil—was tied.

“Kihihit! For Demon King Satan—!”

Ka—!!

The Skeleton crashed right into the center of the knight order.

Its body shattered, and bones exploded and scattered everywhere.

“Hee-haw—!!”

Bones pierced the steeds like thorns.

Thanks to the divine protection, the Holy Knights remained safe, but they couldn’t protect all the horses from the Skeleton bombardment of the Demon King’s army.

“Guh…!”

Humans are safe, but the steeds are not.

“Fire on the fallen Holy Knights! Keep shooting until sunrise to prevent them from moving!”

And now, having lost mobility, the Holy Knights were like mice caught in a trap.

“Keep shooting until the dawn breaks and the blessing of moonlight ends! The moment the morning sun rises, the blessing of the Moon Goddess will convert them into a beehive!!”

Tatata-tan.

Outside, the ghost knights and Knights of Death rained down magical bullets.

Above, the skeletons donned oil barrels for a self-destruct attack.

And.

Fire!

“A-ah…!”

“Ha-ha-ha! Humans! The skeletal undead know no burning pain!”

Skeletons fell from the sky, their bodies ignited with flames.

Dousing themselves in oil and setting themselves ablaze, they recklessly threw themselves over the Holy Knights.

Fire!

As they hit the ground, the oil exploded, and flames began to engulf the shattered skeleton pieces and the bones lodged in the steeds.

Simultaneously.

“Death Knight! Ghost Rider! First squad, load real bullets!! Spread the barrage—! Second squad, recover mana! Third squad, maintain magical bullet fire! Switch on signal and rotate in shifts!”

The shooting of the undead knights began to shift.

Bang!

Real bullet fire to ignite the oil.

Real bullets, which should have been made of just iron or lead, contained ‘flames’ beyond common sense.

“Take this! The flames of Gehenna bestowed by Satan!!”

Fire!

The bullets, laced with crimson flame, began to burn even the protective shield of divine power, igniting upon contact with oil and spreading red flames in all directions.

“Guh…!!”

The Holy Knights were isolated.

Having no means to save the steeds, now they too were in a life-and-death situation.

“O Moon Goddess…!”

At that moment.

Shwooosh—!!

A wave of blue crashed forth, engulfed in flames.

A water cannon shot up from the ground toward the flying liches in the sky, soaking the ground and swiftly sweeping away the ghost knights.

“Kraaaaack!!”

Undead knights were swept away in a tsunami that couldn’t occur naturally.

“Damn it, retreat—!”

The undead knights hurriedly turned their heads and galloped away at full speed.

As if more terrified of the wave than the Moon Goddess’s blessing, the undead knights ceased their attacks and fell back to their lines.

“…….”

The Holy Knights remained silent.

Even though they were drenched by the wave, they could not express joy over it.

This couldn’t be considered a miracle of the Moon Goddess.

Even if the one wielding this power were the leader of the Holy Knight Order.

“Are you alright!!”

A woman riding an ice board over the wave approached, the leader of the Holy Knight Order—the one and only Liriez Cesarcross.

“There are no dead—”

“…None at all.”

The Holy Knights pointed gloomy faces downward.

“The steeds are all dead.”

“…….”

The Holy Knight Order of the Crescent Moon Goddess.

They had boldly arrived at the Imperial Territory, yet were rigorously stricken down by the Demon King Satan’s army.

*

In the Imperial Territory of Lesvos. Headquarters of the Holy Knight Order.

“…It’s difficult.”

The Hero wielding the Holy Water Sword, Liriez, scanned the damage report with a serious expression.

“Less than 30% of the surviving steeds remain.”

There were hardly any casualties among the people.

Thanks to the blessing of the Moon Goddess, very few of the Holy Knights had been hurt or killed, but the problem lay with the steeds that didn’t receive the blessing.

“At this rate, our only option is to advance on foot, Commander.”

“But the enemy rides skeletal steeds, doesn’t it?”

“…….”

“Vice Captain. Just the power of my holy sword—”

“That cannot be done!”

The Vice Captain shook his head firmly.

“This is a holy war! A trial of faith for the order of the Crescent Moon Goddess! The power of the Holy Sword must not be used frivolously! It must be saved for when facing the Demon King!”

“But if we remain here in Lesvos, the Demon King’s army might reach the system!”

“Yet we must conserve the Holy Sword!”

“…You don’t doubt the strength of the Holy Sword, do you? Is it because you think this isn’t the power of the Moon Goddess?”

“Th-That’s…!”

The Vice Captain could not respond.

“I will assess the morale of the unit and make a decision by tomorrow. No matter what, we can’t let our advance slow further. We—”

“Commander—!!”

A Holy Knight dashed in with a smile on her face.

“The Magic King of the Anari Principality has arrived! With 300 warriors!”

“!!”

 

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