In front of the checking station, which was literally the “entrance” of the Lev Magic Empire, chaos ensued. The space where we adventurers used to spend the night outdoors before being admitted into the Empire was crowded with soldiers donning armors of different colours from different countries.

「Hey, I can’t pass through!」

「I need to go inside!」

「Who the hell pushed me!」

「General! General!」

I caught a few people and asked what was going on. It seems that the Supreme Commander of the Saint Knight Kingdom had already passed through the passage and entered the Empire, and his soldiers were trying to follow him. Furthermore, even the second-in-command of the Keith Gran Federation was heading to the front line, so additional soldiers were trying to get through the passage to support him.

The Kruvan Holy Kingdom side was also trying to send soldiers to the front line to confirm the situation, as the former Holy King was already at the front line, which extradited the chaos.

On the other hand, from inside the Empire, the Keith Gran Federation’s soldiers were staying near the passage as it was their usual time to substitute troops. The passage was blocked from both sides.

And I was too late to arrive.

「Uh.. To think the knights of our kingdom would be this disordered.」Wilhelm muttered.

It was Wilhelm who stopped me from trying to leave Queen of the Night earlier. He said that if I rushed into the scene in the form of a knight of unknown affiliation, it would raise unnecessary suspicions and be troublesome, and that I should go with him.

However, Wilhelm was wearing ceremonial clothes at the time, so I had to wait until he changed into a knight’s uniform.

It was nice that I got to talk with Earl Sillys a little more, but now I couldn’t enter the Empire due to having a late start and getting caught up in this chaos.

..Lark is in there. And she is fighting.

「Wilhelm, I can’t wait for this situation to settle down. I’ll go ahead first.」

「What do you mean “go ahead”? How are you going to break through this crowd?」

「No, I am going to go from above.」

「....Above?」

Wilhelm and the other knights looked at me with a blank look.

「It’s going to be a little conspicuous, but it can’t be helped. People will notice this uniform, though.」

「No, that’s fine, but– H-Hey, Reiji-dono!?」

I started running. Not towards the passage, but the cliff that surrounded the open square.

(【Body Enhancement】,【Support Magic】,【Leg Strength Enhancement】,【Jumping Technique】!)

I bent down right before the cliff and kicked the ground as hard as I could. The ground exploded, forming a small crater.

「UWAAAH!?」

「What the hell!」

Some soldiers screamed, perhaps noticing the explosion sound.

My body soared to a height of about 7 meters, but the cliff was about 70 meters high.

「He can’t reach the top like that!」

「No, wait– What the hell again!」

I added【Fire Magic】right then. My body was launched by an explosion and accelerated with【Wind Magic】. I hadn’t reached the top yet. Add more magic, more, more——.

I heard more screams of astonishment from the soldiers.

It hurt quite a bit. I was still not an expert at this technique.

However, by using it in tandem with【Healing Magic】, I healed the mild burns immediately.

「He reached the top!」

「Amazing!」

My body landed on top of the cliff.

「Fuh..」

While dusting off the burnt uniform, I looked around.

The cliffs that separate the “Undeveloped Land Canion” from the Empire were raised plateaus similar to Table Mountain and Ayers Rock.

I raised my right elbow to shoulder height and put my right fist on my right chest – sending a salute of the Saint Knight Kingdom to Wilhelm and the accompanying knights who were looking at me with their mouths agape.

Surprised by my action, Wilhelm and the knights returned the same salute.

「Alright, then. Let’s go!」

Even while standing this high up, I could see End Fang clearly.

** Lev Magic Empire – Red Gate Frontline **

The first person that End Fang recognised as a “threat” was the Black Sky Pirate.

She stood there alone. Her fellow sky pirates and the soldiers of the Lev Magic Empire who accompanied her decided to fall back because they realised they would only drag her feet.

The first to make a move was End Fang. It rushed towards Lark. Each step of the rush was enough to shake the ground.

Lark calmly stood on the building.

「Come, my black sword.」

Although End Fang recognized the small human as a “threat”, it would be a lie to say that it did not look down on her at all.

If you compare the sizes of the two, it would be like comparing an elephant to an ant. The elephant just needs to step on it, and it would be over no matter how strong the ant is.

Therefore, End Fang chose the attack method called “rush”. An attack method that crushes everything in its path.

『!!!!』

From Lark’s body, dozens of long, huge, ominous black arms grew. They do not allow any light to be reflected, so it was not possible to tell what shape they held.

And the distance between the two was too close for End Fang to stop its rush.

「Die.」

Black blades were shot towards End Fang’s forehead. The moment the attack was about to land the mana enveloping End Fang’s body interfered.

The part which came in contact with the blade turned black and peeled off. But one of the blades also shattered into pieces.

Lark launched black blades one after another without interruption.

The membrane of mana peeled off and the blades pierced deep into End Fang’s fur. Fresh blood spouted out.

『!!!!』

Even while shocked by the unusual phenomenon that occurred to its body – comparing it to a cataclysm, as it has never been injured in the last few hundred years – End Fang continued its rush without easing up on the speed.

The giant body crashed into the building Lark stood on. The building was blown to pieces from top to bottom.

As powerful as Lark was, even she wouldn’t survive a fall from that height.

However, just before the collision, Lark kicked off the edge of the building and jumped out into the air. Four black wings grew out of her body.

『GURURURURUAAAAAAAAAAA!』

After charging through and destroying several other buildings, End Fand stopped and roared.

Blood spouted from its forehead. One of its four eyes was crushed.

「——Gaha!」

However, Lark was not unscathed either. She was able to dodge the charge, but when she landed on the ground, she vomited enough blood to create a puddle on the ground.

「Aa-ah.. you should’ve appeared sooner.」

Lark’s stamina had already been exhausted to the limit as she had been fighting since before End Fang appeared. It turns out that【Shadow King】is effective against End Fang, but if Lark keeps shooting out blades as is, her body will collapse before long.

She needs a little bit of rest before she can unleash her next attack.

『UUUUUUUUU!』

End Fang turned around and glared at Lark with its three remaining eyes in anger.

「..Of course, you ain’t gonna let me rest, are you...」

Lark laughed at herself self-deprecatingly and tried to stand up.

Right then–

「I will buy you a little bit of time. Rest up.」

A large man appeared in front of her. A thing noteworthy was his large shield, which was as tall as the man himself.

「Aah~, I would really like to administer medicine after a diagnosis, but it doesn’t seem like we have time for that. Here, drink this medicine. It works right away.」

A small hand was placed over Lark’s right shoulder. She didn’t know it belonged to a halfling.

「I will use【Healing Magic】as much as possible.」

The hand on her left shoulder was warm, belonging to a human nun.

「Is that alright, dad?」

「Yeah, Non. Mimino, I need you to support me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t last even a few seconds against such a monster.」

「I know. Let’s go without any regrets!」

The three members of Silver Balance reached out to Lark, who had been fighting on the front line.