At the border between the Abyssal federation and the Kingdom of Lidolu, a vast army posed of human soldiers standard-issue armour was standing in full readiness.

  This was the army of the Kingdom of Lidolu, numbering a total of fifty thousand troops.

  In stark trast, the Abyssal federation’s army appeared pitifully small, leading some to wonder if they had given up entirely and were preparing to surrender without a fight.

  “Hah! I inally thought these lowly creatures had some kind of strategy, but it seems they’re nothing special after all,” sneered a man sitting in a chair, listening to reports from his subordinates.

  “That might not be the case. Perhaps they have a pn,” one of his officers suggested.

  “You’re overthinking it. Let’s not fet, with our strength, we’ll easily ftten this so-called federation. Even if they have a pn, it won’t be anything overly sophisticated.”

  “…True,” the masked man standing beside him said with a light chuckle.

  “It’s time. Advahe army!” the and was issued.

  At that signal, the soldiers raised their ons—iron swords, long spears, and various magical devices—and the fifty thousand troops began marg in perfeation toward the enemy.

  “It seems they’re frightehey haven’t even made a move,” observed Barol, the current King of Lidolu, as he surveyed the enemy camp through a telescope. Not a single soldier had stepped forward to prepare for battle.

  It was in the bag!

  He could already envision his glorious return, uded by the people of his kingdom.

  “…Hm? What’s that…?”

  Suddenly, Barol spotted two figures emerging from the enemy’s camp. One was a young girl with bck hair, wearing a traditional magical hat and cloak, while the other was a woman with burgundy hair, holding a sword that looked like a shield.

  “A magi and a swordswoman. Do they think these two handle our army?” Barol muttered, squinting at them.

  Upon closer iion, the teared to be ordinary humans, not non-human races of any kind.

  “Your Majesty, what should we do? Should we deal with them?” the masked man at Barol’s side asked.

  “If they stand against us, then they must be traitors to humanity, right? Attack! Elimihem!”

  At Barol’s and, the archers and mages in the army unched a barrage of arrows and spells toward the two women.

  The woman with the rge sword simply raised it.

  Just as others assumed she inteo use the sword as a shield to block the attacks, the masked man’s face suddenly ged.

  “No, wait! She’s…!”

  But even as he realised what was about to happen, there was nothing he could do to stop it.

  A surge of immense magical power coursed through the sword of the red-haired woman, and in the instant, it transformed into a massive spell.

  “‘Starfall’!”

  In the clear sky above, a faint point of light suddenly appeared, rapidly growing brighter. Within seds, it became as intense as the sun.

  As the soldiers watched in fusion, a colossal meteor fell from the sky, crashing into their ranks.

  “It’s… it’s a high-level magic!” the masked man shouted in disbelief.

  “What!? A high-level spell? Isn’t she a swordswoman?” Barol excimed, stunned.

  It was well known that individuals with magical talent typically cked warrior abilities, and vice versa. Those who excelled in both were rare and renowned figures, and Barol certainly knew of them.

  “Didn’t expect that. Impressive, Abyssal federation…” Barol muttered.

  “Don’t worry, that’s why we’re here,” the masked man replied, his tone calm despite the ret dispy of power.

  Though he was surprised by the magic, it didn’t mean he couldn’t handle oppos of this calibre. In fact, people like him were plentiful here!

  “That spell is likely called ‘Starfall’. It’s a magic where the number of meteors depends on the amount of magical power ed. The first meteor requires the most power. In other words, sinly oeor fell, she must be low on magical energy!”

  As the masked man spoke, another massive magical circle appeared over part of the army.

  “Take this! ‘Explosive Magic – Extended Range’!”

  In the instant, a violent explosioed within the army, sending a massive mushroom cloud into the air.

  “Ahh… that feels good!” the bck-haired girl excimed, before colpsing forward.

  Fortunately, the red-haired woman was there to catch her in time, preventing her from hitting the ground.

  “Two secutive high-level spells… This isn’t a problem! Our forces are still more than capable!” the masked man decred, though his voice seemed to carry an air of forced fidence.

  But he wasn’t pretending. They truly had the strength to overe these oppos.

  “Then hurry up! Are you saying we have to wait until our soldiers are all dead before ag?” Barol snapped, irritated.

  He was on the edge of kig the masked man out for his indecisiveness.

  “Don’t worry, I’m on it,” the masked man replied, quickly activating a unication spell before charging forward. Other masked figures, dressed iical attire, appeared from hidden ers and swiftly joined him.

  Soon, a rge number of masked figures surrouhe camp of the Abyssal federation. Eae stood in precise formation, clearly having undergoeraining.

  But the two women who had caused such chaos were o be seen.

  “Listen up, those inside! You’re surrounded! You have the right to remain silent, but every word you say will be your st!” one of the masked men shouted, using a magical loudspeaker for emphasis.

  “…No response… Everyotack!”

  Boom!!

  At the masked man’s and, a figure desded from the sky and crashed into the ground, sending a cloud of dust into the air, followed by a loud crash.

  “Who’s there!?”

  As the dust slowly settled, a figure ed in blue fmes and strange armour emerged from the smoke.

  The masked man suddenly felt as though he were being sed, or perhaps observed.

  “…A human in a mask, approximately one hundred of you,” a meical, syic voice emanated from the armour. The figure extended a hand toward them.

  “Leave now, and no one will be harmed.”

  The masked men exged uain ghen ughed out loud.

  “Just one of you? Are y to challenge us? This is a joke, right?”

  However, the figure irange armour showed no anger. He simply retracted his hand.

  “You’ve chosen the wrong path. Therefore, you will all die.”