It's like a repetition of the events of the Padrosi Empire in the past.

The overwhelming number of death-defying creatures came in waves like a tidal wave, taunting all human tactics, the art of war, honor, and integrity with overwhelming force.

Casualties soon followed, and the armor of the heavily armed ronin began to deform in the successive blows. Under the continuous claws and bites of the light cage hands, the iron plate deformed, and the chain mail sewn into the fabric fell off, and finally these minions pierced deep into the arm, tearing open the epidermis and muscles, injuring the muscles and blood vessels. Blood quickly spilled out, wetting the ronin's armor and turning their faces pale, and as they lost blood and injured tendons, their attacks became more and more sluggish, and they were unable to raise their weapons against bites aimed at their throats.

When they are in a similar number, with good armor and formation, they can outfight these weakened ghouls who are not afraid of death but have relatively average attack power.

But it's not equivalent.

That's 120 vs. 400 or more.

Moreover, not all of the 120 people are forwards, and almost every one of the forwards ronin, who only has dozens of people in total, has to bear the pressure of nearly 10 ghouls attacking at the same time.

"Change the formation, fight against the water!" Ryunosuke gave such an order at the beginning, and at this moment he further narrowed the defensive line, making the elongated semi-circular formation change from only one layer to three layers. Henry and the others sit in the last layer of the line as the core, and once the outermost people are injured, the second and third layers are on top to maintain the line - but the situation is not optimistic, and anyone can fully see this.

"Seven people have been seriously injured in less than 10 minutes!, Ryunosuke-sama!" The lieutenant reported in the midst of the noise, and the ronin, who had almost lost their ability to fight, were placed in the middle of the formation, and they were only able to lie on the ground and die comfortably after a simple hemostatic treatment.

"At least if the bow and arrow can—" said the adjutant, but the archers who had been pulled out of the line were more than 10 minutes dumb and were not evading their responsibilities - they had a bigger task to do.

"Are the rockets ready!" shouted Narumi, who was in charge of commanding the archers so that Ryunosuke could devote himself to the defense, because suddenly the ronin archers did not carry special rockets, and at this time they were improvised with ordinary heavy arrows and drenched in oil. However, because of the light attack and the weight of the baggage in the middle of the road, it took a full 10 minutes to sort out enough combustibles.

"It's over—" "Alright—" The archers reported their condition in turn, and the samurai leader looked at the highest flag of the sailing ship not far away—the windswept flag that was blowing straight —

"Wind speed four, northwest, half-draw, aim for the sail!" Narumi shouted loudly, and the archers skewed their big bows slightly to the right according to the information he had reported, and did not aim directly at the sails.

"Whew-" One of the ronins in charge of the ignition quickly ignited the improvised rocket after the archers had mounted the arrows, while the archers pulled the strings with their index fingers and thumbs, pulling only half the distance backwards with force.

The wind blew the flames so loudly that pulling only half of the rocket was enough to reach the sailboat, but if it was full, the flames would be extinguished by the speed of the arrows in the wind.

"Ready--go!" Narumi gave an order, dozens of rockets were shot at the sailboats leaning on the side, and the thick sails stacked together became the best ignition materials, and the rockets that fell densely except for a few were stuck on the thick wooden planks full of wind and frost and did not make any movement for a long time.

"Next, ready-release!"

"Ahhh

"Ryunosuke-sama, 15 people have been seriously injured!"

"Go up!"

"Hah!"

After going from three lines of defense to two, it was clear that it was teetering in the midst of endless attacks, and the frenzied rush of ghouls rushed into it, making the semi-circular line resemble a dough that had been kneaded vigorously, and if the power was out of balance in one place, it would sink in, and the humans would dent in the other direction when they pushed back.

Many ronins broke away from the defense line in the process, and in an instant they were dragged into the Kuroti by the bloodthirsty monsters, and disappeared, and the heavy armor they wore provided as much protection as possible, but it was still far from enough, and it was only a matter of time before they were swallowed up in the face of an overwhelming numerical disadvantage - but the goal was finally achieved.

"It's all on fire!" shouted Narumi.

"Detachment, detachment, detachment!" and the other lieutenant under Ryunosuke's command immediately roared loudly.

"The archers and the samurai marched together, using the tactics taught by the Gentile masters, and they are about to withdraw!" "The army of a hundred battles was still full of morale despite the heavy casualties, and the archers put away their bows and drew their swords, and some of them picked up the short guns of their fallen comrades. The moment Henry and his party withdrew from the defensive line, they forcibly broke through from the south side of the semi-circular formation.

"Drink—" The edge of the greatsword was shown again, and the pressure on this side was relatively low on the water's edge, and they quickly cut through the ghoul tide here and broke through to a position of about 20 meters.

"Archers stop! in position—stage cover begins!" Narumi commanded loudly, and the archers, who hadn't even had time to wipe the blood, withdrew their swords, and their spears were stuck in the ground, quickly splitting their formations and drawing their bows and arrows.

"Beep-beep-beep-beep-" The samurai leader blew the whistle, and the shrill sound was far more noticeable in the noisy environment than the shouting of the mouth - it was a signal of retreat, and Ryunosuke shouted loudly without looking back: "Fire pot ready! Torch ready! Formation contraction, cone formation!" The remaining fuel for making the rocket was quickly poured on the ground, and the ronin who had changed formation launched a wave of counter-charge in an instant, causing Kuroshio to retreat a little before quickly crossing the fuel-filled ground.

"Ignition!"

"Shoot the arrows!"

"Boom—" The torches were tossed to the ground, setting the flames on fire, and a wall of flames burned as the archers not far away rained down a rain of arrows on the ghouls caught between the two centaurs.

The heavy and arrow-making "Boom-" sound fell with great power, and although it didn't kill the twisted monsters in a single blow, except for a few that hit the head, it was enough to knock them down, creating an opportunity for Ryunosuke's forces to break through.

"Kill!"

"Ha !!"

A badly wounded ronin in the center of the cone? Those who have already lost their lives can only be left with corpses to be drowned by ghouls. 11 years of fighting side by side have already cultivated a deep bond like brothers, but now they can't even bury their corpses, so they can only flee in embarrassment.

"Bang-click-"

Bloodshot eyes in grief and rage glared at all the blasphemous things in front of them, and the ronin poured hatred into each attack, effectively bringing down one twisted monster after another with their carefully forged Japanese long knives.

"Ha-ha-" Panting, they came to where the archers were.

"Turn around? Raise your gun!Defend in place!"The raging fire may stop the human enemy, but it can't completely stop these ghouls who have no intelligence and don't know what life and death are? The beastly instinct buried in their hearts made them hesitate when the flames burned, but they quickly pierced through the blazing fire.

But after the group broke through, the ghouls who caught up were no longer the formation that they had surrounded before, but chased after them with a long snake that was not conducive to play, and the pressure was much less for Ryunosuke and the others who turned around and started to defend on the spot again.

"Archers - retreat! the same distance!" The tactics briefly told by Henry are called phased cover retreats? Although it was against Ryunosuke's wishes to further split the already numerically inferior forces into two parts, Henry's explanation succeeded in convincing him, and the ronin leader did not hesitate to hand over the military power to Narumi.

Melee fighters and archers split into two parts? While one part is withdrawing, the other part is attacking the enemy? Slowing down the enemy's pursuit allowed friendly forces to evacuate. Retreating and fleeing, while it may not sound dignified, is far more effective in preserving life than holding on to the death and eventually being beaten and defeated.

They didn't stay in place for long, the ronin just launched a defense with their short guns, repelling the ghouls who were running on all fours and rushing up first, buying the archers about 10 seconds for the archers.

If you stay too long, the ghouls will follow, and they will be surrounded on all sides.

"Boom, Boom—" A whistling rain of arrows fell and hit the middle of the ghoul tide of the Long Snake Formation, and the powerful heavy arrows knocked over the ghouls blocked the follow-up part of the run, causing their momentum to stagnate, and then Ryunosuke and his party ran backwards again to open up the distance.

Almost everyone gasped, and although the overcast wind under the gloomy sky obscured the summer sun, the strenuous physical exertion and the weight of the armor still added to the sweat loss and the stuffy sensation.

But they must ignore these.

The hand holding the knife began to throb? Numbness in the palms and fingers? The legs felt like they were filled with lead, but they could still move away with the tight gaiters - so they had to keep going.

Is the number of people decreasing a little bit? The seriously injured waves who were supported all the way because they didn't have a stretcher and bumped all the way finally died? Ryunosuke gritted his teeth and abandoned these people? In this way, they retreated in the direction of the hot spring village at a distance of ten seconds and tens of meters.

"Samurai-sama, you've run out of arrows!" shouted the archers, as if their tired bodies weren't bad enough, after one last cover.

"It's the node!" But when the ronin retreated, they recognized the terrain on this side—the same place where they had hidden their baggage, horses, and some supplies when they attacked Saburo's main camp lightly—

"The riders are out of line. The previous prefectural commander gave the order with a grim face, and the cavalry, who had also been somewhat damaged, stepped out of the ranks of the infantry and quickly ran out of the reeds and drew out the horses—the superior geldings were docile and would not leave the area where they were placed without the orders of their masters.

Although they were also physically and mentally exhausted, after riding their horses, they instantly picked up the spears they had also reserved for riding.

"The archers are supplied with arrows as soon as possible. ”

"Gentlemen, you have labored. "The ronin, who had traveled long distances in heavy armor, were close to the bottom of their physical strength, and Henry's party had better preserved their strength because they were acting with the archers. Together with the samurai of the Aota family, they switched defenses and stood on the front line, while our Sage single-handedly repelled the ghoul vanguard that had become sparse in pursuit.

Black blood splattered under Kramer's edge, and the twisted monsters fell to the ground one after the other. Before the ghouls could rush up, the others were slaughtered by Henry.

"If every one of the contemptible men were like him—" Ryunosuke sighed with a slightly gloomy expression, and the archers, who had quickly replenished the arrows, drew their bows and arrows again without hesitation, and the cavalry units were in good shape after a rain of arrows fell.

"Ready—"

"Charge!"

The sound of horses' hooves !! rapidly accelerated from "stampede, stamped, stamped!" to a thunderous "boom", and they managed to smash the group of ghouls apart despite the fact that there were only a few dozen horses.

The body that was pierced and provoked by the tip of the spear still waved its limbs frantically to inflict damage, and some ghouls even bit the barrel of the spear and could not shake it off, so that the rider had to abandon the spear and pull out the sword fixed to the saddle and continue the fight.

"Beep-beep-beep-beep-" The whistle sounded again, signaling a retreat, and the cavalry did not rush in, trampling the entire team of ghouls in turn before quickly joining up with the large force that had begun to withdraw further.

Physically and mentally exhausted, the group struggled to walk, but thankfully the ghouls did not reappear in the distant reeds until they had evacuated to the location where the raging fire of the sailboat could not be seen.

"Stop, let's catch our breath. The moment Ryunosuke gave the order, nearly half of the ronins sat down on the ground with pale faces. Almost all of them were wounded, and although they were not seriously injured by armor, they still added to the burden.

"No, catch up. Narumi watched carefully at the wind and grass in the reeds in the distance, and Henry's face was still calm, and he said, "Because their mission is only to guard those sailboats. ”

He said this in a loud voice that was neither loud nor small, but loud enough to be heard by others.

"Shhh

"Iron baa. ”

"What the hell are you hiding from us! You're familiar with these things, aren't you, why didn't you say it earlier! It's all your fault that so many people have died!" As the volume increased and the surroundings became quiet, the woman's unique voice was completely exposed, and the rest of the Aota family also turned their heads in surprise - they didn't know that the lieutenant under Ryunosuke's command was actually a woman.

The female members of the Wato samurai family are basically required to study martial arts, and are responsible for guarding the mansion when the men in the family go out to fight, but this one clearly hides her characteristics as a woman and only exists as a samurai.

The composure of the battle and the status of the former prefectural commander showed that the samurai was worthy of her profession, and it was for this reason that they never suspected that she was a daughter under the armor.

But at this moment, perhaps it was precisely because of the woman's unique delicacy that she noticed the sage's understanding of ghouls, and the eternal calm attitude of this tall Southern Barbarian was like oil poured on a fire at the moment when her subordinates were like a family member, and she couldn't help but explode as soon as she relaxed.

"Village rain, stop, Mr. saved our lives. Because Henry's name was too cumbersome for Kazuto to pronounce, Ryunosuke also called Sage the same as Narumi. The adjutant gritted his teeth and let go of his hand, but most of them looked at the sage anyway - they needed an explanation, immediately, immediately.

"Are you familiar with the magic that Lamo calls spiritual power?" the sage didn't even bother to straighten his collar, and went straight to the point.

"The technique that the onmyoji has learned, right, the shrine maiden is said to be able to use spiritual power, does this have anything to do with the current situation?" "Magic is also a high-level thing in this country, and Ryunosuke, as the former prefectural commander, only has a cursory understanding.

"Using this power can indeed do wonders. But the contemptible have never heard of the power to turn a life around, to change life and death. ”

"Yin-Yang Technique, it should be more-"

"Something not so distorted. The former prefectural magistrate chose the wording, and finally said it in a euphemistic way that is peculiar to Japanese people.

"There is a limit to the magic that humans and other races can wield. The sage made an analogy: "It's like a bonfire, if you touch it directly with your hands, it will burn your body because of the heat." ”

"But if it's through the container, the fire can be used to heat the water. By adding a buffer medium, the temperature is controlled, warm a cup of tea, and boil a pot of bath water. Become usable. ”

"Ah, the mana pool. The Luoan girl next to her sighed a little understandingly.

"So—" The lieutenant was silent, and Ryunosuke seemed to have a slight understanding.

"Hmm. The sage nodded.

"The so-called ghouls are those who are not able to bear enough but have come into contact with the original magic, which is what you call the existence of spiritual veins. ”

"Humans. ”

"So how did Saburo master this power. The former county magistrate asked the question he wanted to know the most.

"I don't know. But almost to everyone's expectation, the person who should have had many answers shook his head.

"I don't have an exact answer, but there are inferences. ”

Henry looked at the dried blood stains on the large guns of the group, dark red blood mixed with a few traces of black.

"It's probably to keep the flames in a tiny range, and although they will still burn, they won't be burned to death. ”

He diluted the amount, presumably by adding tiny amounts at a time to the diet of those people. ”

"But it should have been impossible. So said the sage.

"Corrupted ghouls do not obey mere mortals, they are loyal only to their original purpose—hunting and eating. They are pure 'creatures' that have been stripped of the skin of civilization and stripped of the shackles of the temple community and returned to the state of beasts. ”

"It's twisted, but it's also pure. ”

"To be able to command such pure chaos with a mortal body, in addition to the necessary techniques and the acceptance of [Higher, Higher, Degree, Invasion, Erosion]. ”

He looked at Ryunosuke.

"It also requires a very strong and unshakable emotion. ”

"Usually. ”

"It's hate. ”