Surviving a Harsh Fantasy with Cheat Items (WN)

Having severed the head of the enemy knight commander, Clementine and her troops were momentarily overwhelmed with ecstasy.

But the thrill of victory is when complacency sets in. Danger was approaching from the sky.

「Wha—what is that!?」

One of Berenice’s pikemen suddenly shouted, his gaze fixed on the sky. Descending upon them were demon beasts: the Blue Dragon, Green Dragon, and Yellow Dragon.

Three Dragon Brothers.

Clementine looked up in disbelief at the sudden appearance of these colorful, massive dragons.

「Where on earth could such huge creatures have been hiding?」

Even with Berenice and Clementine’s status as elite knights, facing dragons was an entirely different matter. As for the peasants armed with long spears, they were like ants standing against an elephant.

One swipe of a dragon’s claws could easily kill five, ten men at once. And if the dragons unleashed their breath attacks, the small human forces would be obliterated in an instant.

Clementine squinted and noticed something—standing atop the Blue Dragon was a woman dressed in black bondage-like armor, clutching a staff. 「A beastmaster? If we can take her down, we might have a chance.」

「That woman’s controlling them! Berenice, take her out!」

「At once! All troops, fire at the dragons!」

At Clementine’s command, Berenice’s troops snapped back to reality, drew their bows, and aimed at the dragons. Berenice herself pulled back her bowstring and loosed an arrow, but every arrow was swept away by the Blue Dragon’s icy breath.

「Haha! You think arrows will work on dragons? And to think, you actually managed to kill Gibbon. Perhaps this will help my promotion.」

It seemed that Hydra, the beastmaster, had the ability to control clouds through magic. She had concealed the dragons within the clouds, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

An aerial ambush—this was a tactic no one had anticipated. Hydra had even bided her time, allowing Gibbon, the knight commander, to be slain by Clementine’s forces before launching her attack. It was a testament to her cunning.

With Gibbon—one of Governor Sardival’s closest aides—dead, Hydra’s chances of promotion were now more certain than ever.

「Who are you!?」

With a triumphant smile, Hydra responded boldly,

「I am Hydra, commander of the Beast Corps! Sorry, shiny little knights, but don’t think you can escape. The rest of your men are as good as dead, but I have orders to capture you alive. Half-dead will do, though.」

Hydra’s confident boast was not just to intimidate her foes but to secure recognition for her role in the battle. After all, wiping out a mere five hundred or a thousand spearmen with three dragons seemed like an easy victory.

「All units, retreat! Clementine, we have to fall back!」

「But my men!」

With their arrows proving useless and their pikemen being flung aside by the dragons, Berenice made the quick decision to retreat.

Clementine, however, was paralyzed by the sight of her soldiers being slaughtered. In this crucial moment, her resolve wavered. In contrast, Berenice’s decision to withdraw had been swift, but Clementine’s hesitation slowed her down.

With the dragons’ arrival, the disoriented knights of the enemy’s army were regaining their formation. If Clementine’s unit didn’t retreat soon, they would be annihilated.

Just then, a loud voice rang out.

Suzanne, leading her gunmen, drew her pistol and shouted, ‘Fire!’

「All gunmen, Fire! 」

Suzanne’s gunmen unleashed a volley of musket shots toward the advancing enemy. She herself aimed at the dragons, not to slay them, but to create a suppressive barrage that would cover her allies’ retreat.

「Target the dragons!」

From a distant hill, the deep boom of cannons echoed as Claudia fired directly at the dragons, having dismounted her horse to make the shot. Yet, striking a flying dragon from such a distance proved to be a nearly impossible task.

「Damn it, I missed.」

Still, fortune favored them.

「Aaagh!」

Hydra, perched atop the Blue Dragon, clutched her shoulder in agony. Amidst the chaotic barrage, a stray bullet had struck her.

While not a fatal wound, the fact that they hit her at all from such a distance was nothing short of a miracle. Hydra, unfamiliar with firearms, shrieked in pain, anger flooding her expression as she held her burning shoulder.

「What…what is this? A tube that spits fire?! Green! Yellow! Kill them all!」

Normally, a wound like that would sap the will to fight from most. But Hydra, ever the fierce and battle-hardened beastmaster, fought through the searing pain with teary eyes and barked her orders.

At her command, the two remaining dragons shifted their focus from the retreating pike formations to Suzanne’s gunmen, swooping down with terrifying speed.

However, a second volley was already being prepared.

「Reload quickly! Fire at will!」

「Gwoooaaar!」

The bullets bounced harmlessly off the thick scales of the dragons. Yet, in vulnerable areas like the eyes, the bullets could still find their mark.

「Got him!」

The Yellow Dragon, having taken a shot to the eye, let out a blood-curdling roar of pain. It reeled back, blinded in one eye, and unleashed a fiery breath attack, retreating from the battlefield. Despite Hydra’s command, the dragon’s primal instinct took over—it knew it was no match and sought to flee, cloaking the area in a poisonous mist as it flew off.

「Uwaaa!」 「Cough, cough!」

The venomous breath enveloped the battlefield, indiscriminately harming both friend and foe, soldiers collapsing in heaps as the toxic mist spread.

Undeterred, the Green Dragon plunged straight through the deadly fog, roaring fiercely. In its loyalty to its mistress, it charged the enemy lines, breathing fire as it went. Sensing that the cannons were the greatest threat, it let loose a stream of flames, engulfing the artillery and its crew in a blazing inferno.

Suddenly, a deafening explosion rang out—the nearby ammunition crates had been caught in the flames, triggering a massive blast. A towering pillar of fire erupted into the sky, obliterating everything in its vicinity.

「Waaahhh!」

「Gwooooon!」

The anguished cries of soldiers and the dragons’ roars alike were drowned out by the overwhelming sound of the explosion, which dominated the battlefield.

The blast had wreaked havoc on Suzanne’s forces, destroying many muskets and cannons. For the volunteer army, which had limited access to modern weaponry, this was a crippling blow. But the damage wasn’t one-sided—the explosion had also severely injured the dragons. One of them, its wings scorched and torn, collapsed to the ground, exposing its vulnerable underbelly.

「This close, I don’t even need to aim!」

Despite nearly being blown away by the explosion, Claudia clung to her cannon and frantically reloaded. She managed to fire a second shot, the cannonball striking the fallen dragon’s massive form directly. From this range, there was no missing.

The shot connected with the dragon’s exposed stomach.

The cannonball punched through the belly of the Green Dragon, silencing the beast.

「Damn it! How could this happen?!」

Her shoulder was still throbbing from the gunshot, and now one of her dragons had fallen while another returned wounded. What was supposed to be an easy victory after a successful ambush from the skies had turned into an unforeseen struggle.

But Hydra wasn’t one to retreat easily, not after coming this far.

「If I pull back without any results now, I’m finished… Blue, take down that female knight!」

「Gwaaa!」

With a roar, the Blue Dragon obeyed. It struck Clementine, who had been trying to help a wounded soldier, its massive claws cutting through her and her horse in one swift motion. The dragon’s focus on the knight meant that the gunmen’s deadly weapons were left unscathed.

「Tch, I should have done this from the start!」

Hydra spat, cursing her hesitation as she desperately pulled Clementine’s limp body onto the dragon’s back.

Of course, Berenice wasn’t about to let her get away with it.

「Nooo, Clementine!」

「Oh no, you won’t. Blue, use your breath!」

Berenice rushed to save her comrade, but the Blue Dragon’s freezing breath kept her at bay, blocking her path. In that moment, Clementine was carried away, unconscious and captive on the dragon’s back.

「Clementine!」

Berenice screamed, but Suzanne and the others held her back.

「You can’t go after them, Berenice!」

「The dragon’s already beyond the enemy lines! Charging in alone won’t help!」

As Berenice’s cries echoed through the battlefield, both sides began to retreat. The Demon Army had suffered the death of their commander, Gibbon, and the loss of a dragon, while the Volunteer Army had lost many lives and precious cannons and muskets.

The battle outside Presidio had ended in a bitter stalemate, with both armies licking their wounds from the costly encounter.

※※※

Upon hearing news of the skirmish near the capital, Governor Sardival hurried to the gates of Presidio, eager to see the results of his plan. However, his face turned pale when he saw the defeated knights returning.

「I expected some losses, but to think the enemy’s fire-spitting tubes would be this powerful.」

He had underestimated the enemy. The knights had been pushed to the brink, even with the deployment of dragons. If this battle had yielded no gains, the future of the war would be in serious jeopardy.

Sardival quickly summoned his spies for a report.

「Governor Sardival, the Presidio Knights were nearly wiped out, and Knight Commander Gibbon was slain. However, thanks to the dragon attacks, we managed to destroy half of the enemy’s fire-spitting weapons.」

「Gibbon… he failed, despite all the trust I put in him… Assign the deputy commander, Bihar, to lead the knights for now. And what of Hydra?」

Just then, Hydra appeared, riding her Blue Dragon.

「Governor Sardival, Hydra reporting back!」

「Finally, you’re here.」

「I apologize, Governor. One of the three dragons was lost to the enemy’s fire tubes.」

「That’s fine. What about results?」

「I’ve captured one of the enemy’s female knight.」

Hydra said, presenting the blonde, drill haired knight she had brought with her.

「Does this female knight possess an Orichalcum greatsword?」

「No, she was fighting with Sir Gibbon’s halberd. Though, she does have the skill to have taken down Gibbon himself. Her name is, if I recall correctly, Clementine…」

「However, since she doesn’t have the Orichalcum sword, she’s not the leader of the rebel knights. No matter. She’s clearly a knight of some renown. We can use her as bait to lure the dragon-slaying brave. Place her in the cage we prepared and set it atop that prominent hill. Let the enemy know: ‘We have captured one of your female knights. If you want her back, come alone!’」

「As you command, Governor.」

Sardival thought it unlikely the enemy brave would come alone. However, he counted on the fact that she wouldn’t abandon her comrade, and if she did show up, they had countermeasures ready. Clementine would serve as the perfect bait.

「Hold on, it seems the female knight has an injury on her leg. We can’t afford for her to die as a hostage. Stop the bleeding and treat her wound before putting her in the cage.」

Though Sardival had a brutish appearance, he was surprisingly gentlemanly—when it suited him. He never tortured prisoners unnecessarily, especially when they held value.

Following Sardival’s orders, the spies treated Clementine’s wound, applying ointment and wrapping it in bandages. Then they locked her in the cage, fastening chains securely to her wrists and ankles. After all, this was the knight who had slain Gibbon; they couldn’t be too careful.

Hydra, kneeling before Sardival, spoke up.

「My deepest apologies. We lost one dragon, and another had its eye injured…」

「I told you that’s fine. It only proves that the enemy’s cannons have the power to rival dragons. This was not your failure. In fact, thanks to you, we’ve gained a good understanding of the enemy’s strength. Do you see?」

「If I’ve been of service to you, Governor Sardival, it’s an honor.」

「Your skill in holding your ground against their great cannons was impressive. We’ll need to replenish the strength of the beast unit. I’ll entrust you with the remaining five dragons I’ve been keeping in reserve for defense.」

「You’re entrusting all the remaining dragons to me…? I am deeply honored!」

It was unlike the cautious Sardival to be so generous. Yet this gesture showed his growing confidence in Hydra. Along with the dragons came control of the facilities and soldiers that handled them. Hydra had now risen to a rank equivalent to that of a battalion commander.

Sardival was clearly pleased with Hydra’s performance in this battle. If she excelled in the next, a position as one of his closest aide could be within reach.

「Hydra, I expect even more from you in the future. Now, let me see that wound on your shoulder.」

As a powerful demon, Sardival possessed formidable magic and could perform some healing. He touched Hydra’s wounded shoulder, and the bullet wound began to close.

「To be treated directly by you, Governor… I am truly grateful.」

「I have high hopes for you, Hydra. Rest for a while before the next battle.」

To maintain control over Hydra, Sardival kept his hand on her shoulder, speaking to her in a gentle voice. Normally, a high-ranking demon noble like Sardival would never directly touch a commoner, let alone a half-human lowborn demon.

Even the calculating Hydra, overwhelmed with emotion, bowed deeply, her forehead nearly touching the ground. Whether her display of humility was genuine or not, it didn’t change the fact that a commoner had been graced by the hand of a noble.

「I am deeply honored.」

「There isn’t much time before the next battle, but focus on healing the wounded dragon. Whether you have six or seven usable dragons could make all the difference.」

「I swear on my life!」

Hydra replied, hurrying back to tend to the injured Yellow Dragon’s eye.

Satisfied with her response, Sardival nodded and turned his attention toward preparing for the next phase of the battle.

※※※

In the tent of the Abysspania volunteer army, the veteran commanders Louise and Barland gathered to hear the latest report.

「Please, let me go and rescue her!」

「And what can you do alone?」

Louise chided her, trying to calm the knight. Sending a lone knight, especially a royal guard, on a rescue mission was reckless, even for someone of Berenice’s skill.

Just then, they received word that Clementine had been put on display in a cage atop a hill. The message from the enemy was clear: if the dragon-slaying brave came alone, they would release her.

「Very well, I will go.」

「Wait, Louise-dono! It’s too obvious of a trap!」

Barland protested, reminding Louise that he had just warned Berenice against doing the same thing.

But Louise silenced him with a raised hand.

「If I go alone, they’ll let their guard down. Don’t worry, Berenice. I’ll bring your comrade back safely. Is that acceptable, Barland-dono?」

「I won’t send the two of you into danger alone. We’ll prepare our forces to march out with you.」

With the enemy’s twenty-thousand-strong army surrounding Clementine outside the fortified capital, it seemed impossible to attempt a rescue. Logic dictated that it was a futile mission.

But Louise had never failed them before. In Barland’s heart, he believed that this brave might not only rescue Clementine but also turn this dire situation into an opportunity to reclaim the capital.

That hope was enough to make him agree.