"It's getting noisy out here."
Princess Shea stepped out of the large carriage that looked like a building being pulled by ten water buffaloes, and looked at the situation outside.
The mermaid soldiers were confused and in despair, talking to each other asking if it was true that 20000 monsters were coming their way.
A deer beastman with imposing antlers pushed his way through the mermaid soldiers, running towards Princess Shea.
"Deputy Commander Rath, tell me what happened."
Before he could say anything, Shea started the conversation.
She wanted to prioritize hearing a status report, rather than any formalities that might come first.
"Yes, milady! According to our scouts, an army of 20'000 monsters are closing in, and will reach the end of the convoy any moment now."
A group of beastmen had stayed behind as scouts, and they had noticed the movement of the monsters.
If they did not react in the next few minutes, a large swarm of monsters would overtake the mermaid convoy.
"20'000, huh. That's quite a lot of them. I guess they've noticed we're trying to escape."
Princess Shea grinned as she said that, her canine teeth visible.
"This is no laughing matter, Milady. Commander Lud believes it's best if we retreat if we want to survive somehow."
Lud wanted the princess to consider pulling out of the fight, Deputy Commander Rath was of the same mind.
"Sure, we can do that. We can ditch all the people from Clebeur and the royal family after convincing them to leave too. It was a good idea to make them travel for so many days leaving the capital behind."
If the beastmen left, all the people who had escaped the capital would perish.
They had been traveling for a while as well, so their soldiers were not in the best shape, and it was hard to believe they would be able to fend off the monsters.
The soldiers and the royal family in the rear would be killed, leaving the rest of the convoy without the means to protect themselves. There would be a massacre, and the kingdom of Clebeur would cease to exist.
"This really was too much for us to handle. According to our messengers there's provisions, materials, and soldiers gathering in Carulo. We'd suggest retreating there for the time being."
Rath still believed Shea's safety was more important.
The fortified city of Carulo was close enough for them to run there.
"Alright. Then tell the messengers to go to Carulo and bring the reinforcements here, and in the meantime we can continue protecting the royal family and all of Clebeur."
It would take two days for the message to be relayed, and Shea intended to remain with the convoy in the meantime.
"I-I don't know how reasonable that would be. P-please reconsider..."
Rath kept insisting on making her leave, but Shea climbed on her horse and moved back in the convoy regardless.
"We don't have other options. If the royal family is killed, there won't be much of a future for Clebeur. We need to buy more time, at least so reinforcements can get here. They are an allied country after all."
Shea would never consider running away.
"Huh? Allies?"
"Earlier I established an alliance between Albahar and Clebeur with the king."
"You've acted without consulting first again. His Majesty won't be pleased at all..."
While Rath was miffed about her reckless behavior, it was something common so he just had to give up on it.
When Shea reached the end of the convoy, around two thousand beastmen surrounded her.
They could glean their next mission from her facial expression.
But they awaited her official declaration.
"I'm here to battle, and battle alone. Whoever doesn't share that sentiment may proceed to Carulo."
She was okay even if all her men decided to run away.
It was going to be a rather harsh battle.
But no one even considered running away.
The two thousand beastmen knew it.
Princess Shea only spoke those words before a decisive battle.
Hundreds of soldiers had already been lost when capturing the leader of the Evil Cult.
And more would follow in this battle, the princess fully aware of that.
All the soldiers firmly grasped their weapons, it was time to risk their lives.
"I know this will be a fierce battle. Clebeur's soldiers will be joining us this time, so let's give it everything we have."
Commander Lud had been talking with Clebeur's army.
Considering the situation, they also had to provide as much help as possible.
"Let's stop the monsters' march then. Magic troops raise a barrier. We just need to buy enough time, got it?"
"""Yessir!!"""
The magic troops went to work using earth and ice magic to raise a wall more than ten meters tall.
That was not an offensive strategy.
It had a complex construction, meant purely to buy time.
Most of Clebeur's army were foot soldiers.
Even if they ran as fast as they could, it would take them some time to gather behind the convoy, so Shea's group was raising the barrier to stop the monsters even if just a little.
Princess Shea ordered for the wall to be as resilient and harder to cross as possible.
"They're really lively today. Archers get ready! They're already here!!"
They were still getting things ready when the monsters arrived.
The monsters looked like humans, but the lower halves of their bodies were that of giant frogs or salamanders. Some had their heads and arms transformed as well.
But there were still some human vestiges on them, they were Pagan Worshippers.
On top of that, there were lizardmen and giant crabs that opened a path in the mud for them.
Most of them were large B Rank monsters, but there were a few A Rank ones as well.
"Archers, ready to shoot! Focus on their legs and eyes, not on killing them!!"
Archers were usually part of the rear guard.
They were less powerful than most frontliners, though beastmen were a bit different.
They pulled the strings, exerting all the power from their arm and chest muscles.
Following Shea's orders, they settled on their targets and shot the arrows provided by Clebeur the night before.
As the Pagan Worshippers got close, arrows rained on their eyes and legs.
'''Gupyaaaaaahhhhh!!!'''
The arrows reached their eyes, pierced into their brains, and came out the other side.
Others had their knees impaled with arrows, which made them scream aggressively.
Losing their vision slowed them down, and their hurt legs put them to a standstill.
"Magic troops, shower them with ice and lightning. But don't use fire no matter what!!"
"""Yessir!!"""
All the soldiers there had a Talent.
The magic troops were ordered to only use ice and lightning against the Pagan Worshippers, whose bodies were covered by a slimy substance.
Ice could freeze their feet and stop their movements even more.
The tall wall stopped the others from moving forward as well.
But they were so numerous they had never considered exterminating them.
Lightning was the elemental weakness of the monsters and Pagan Worshippers of the region, but they were resistant to fire.
Ice stopped their movements, and then the B and A Rank monsters could be hit with their weakness.
Their plan was to stop them from even reaching the wall, but they were so numerous that was impossible.
The enemy monsters were too large, and there were too many of them.
They had no qualms about stepping on the monsters that were frozen still, continuing to move forward past them.
Archers and magic stopped them at first, but after nearly half an hour they needed to use spears to really have an effect on the monsters.
"There's too many of them."
There were monsters and Pagan Worshippers clinging to the wall, trying to climb above it.
Looking back, Clebeur's army was still far, barely visible in the distance.
They were coming on foot, so Shea considered retreating and regrouping with them a distance back, but there was little point to that now.
From the rear, a fox beastman ran to them, looking distressed.
"Hm? What happened, Commanding Officer Rey?"
Rath asked him, the leader of the scouts, wondering if there was something to report.
"I have something to report!! Two more armies, each of 20'000 monsters, are approaching from the left and the right. We're surrounded!!"
"What was that?!!"
The monsters had formed a U shape around them, surrounding the army.
Rath turned to Shea, wondering what to do next, and saw she was already embroiled in the fight, wildly swinging her fists.
"We're completely outnumbered. We have no choice but to retreat now."
Looking back, there were still many carriages nearby.
Considering the situation, there was no way to save them anymore.
Shea looked at them, wondering what to do about the people of Clebeur.
But then one of the Pagan Worshippers with frog legs jumped with enough force to cross over the barrier.
Many more followed after that, one of them jumping straight towards Shea.
"Watch out Princess! Ghah!!"
Rath threw himself at Shea to get her out of the way.
By protecting Shea, he was bitten by the Pagan Worshipper, a large gash stretching from his shoulder to his chest.
The Pagan Worshipper's head was larger than a human, its mouth much bigger.
It appeared to be grinning with its huge mouth, tearing into Rath's armor.
"Deputy Commander Rath! Stop thattt!!!"
Lud shouted as his body seemed to be engulfed by a heat haze.
Using his enormous hammer, he smashed the Pagan Worshipper's, and kept moving towards the rest.
The moment they crossed over the wall, he killed them in one swing.
Rath was free from the Pagan Worshipper, but his body was debilitated and he fell on his knees.
"R-Run away! Listen everyone!! We're surrounded by tens of thousands of monsters. Take Princess Shea and retreat to the fortified city!!"
Rath gathered all the remaining power he had and shouted to the army with a loud voice.
"Your Highness, please understand!"
Lud also agreed with Rath.
"I've dedicated my life to see you become the first empress."
Shea held Rath's limp body, his eyes struggling to focus.
He was going to die there, surrounded by monsters, sinking in mud.
But he muttered weakly, assured that his life had not been spent in vain.
Rath was heavily wounded, but Shea did not call the healing troops.
"I see... Then let me end this for you, with my own hands..."
Rath had been bitten by a Pagan Worshipper.
They both knew he could no longer be saved.
Lud continued urging the soldiers to retreat while Shea unsheathed the dagger she kept on her belt.
She was going to end Rath's suffering.
Buzz buzz!!
Before she could finish that.
A swarm of something large and numerous blocked the light of the sun.
Then noise like something metallic clattering was audible.
'''Chitterchatter!!'''
Noticing that huge shadow, the beastmen looked at the sky.
"M-More monsters!!"
"What's going on?!"
"It's the end of the world..."
The beastmen and Clebeur's soldiers despaired.
They were fighting for Princess Shea and the people of Clebeur, but that no longer mattered when faced with such hopelessness.
"W-What are those? I knew I was facing a trial, but this is too extreme. Damn you Temi, you didn't read my fortune correctly."
There were bees the size of dragons in the sky.
There were more than a thousand of them, creating a large shadow.
That swarm came from the direction of the convoy, where the soldiers that would relieve them were coming from.
The Astrologer Temi had said nothing about such dangers before Shea headed to the Confederation's continent.
While Shea cursed Temi in her mind, a Gryphon flying amongst the bees flew straight towards her.
