There is a tactic known as the “Hammer and Anvil.”
Derived from the idea that “no matter how strong the iron is, if you hammer it against an anvil, it will break,” this tactic has a rich history, dating back to ancient Roman and Greek times.
Essentially, it’s a coordinated strategy where infantry acts as the anvil while cavalry serves as the hammer. While the infantry faces the enemy, the cavalry mischievously attacks from behind.
The tactics that Karuga employed as per Yuren’s historical texts were exactly this strategy.
There’s no need to elaborate on the infantry’s role, as it was the Southern Army that took on the anvil’s responsibility.
They fortified themselves with shield-bearers and defensive magic, standing firm against the demon army like a strong anvil.
But what, one might ask, was Karuga’s hammer?
It was, quite simply, the black dragons, unmatched by mere cavalry.
“Kuuaaaah!!!!”
“Craaaack!!!! Fire!!! Put out the fire!!!!”
Fwoosh!!!!
Under the guidance of Karuga, or rather Yuren, the black dragons started incinerating the demon army’s rear with their dragon breaths.
As dozens of blasts, each powerful as Yuren’s meteor magic, struck the retreating demons, chaos ensued.
“Ku-we!! Ku-we!!! Kuwweeeeek!!!!”
“Y-you scoundrels!!! Listen to me!!!”
The scorching heat and burning agony from the dragons’ breaths were enough to bring the trained monsters back to their senses, and they began to rampage, breaking free from the demon’s control.
Naturally, the Southern Army didn’t let this chaos slip by.
“Spearmen! Forward!!! We’re going on the offensive!!!”
As the gate of the shield-bearers opened, the spearmen, ready to charge, stepped through and began to massacre the confused demons and monsters.
Crushed between the hammer and the anvil, the first assault of the demon army shattered into disarray.
Once the urgent situation passed, Yuren, with Karuga’s face, set off toward the main base where Sergeant Allen was, alongside Irene.
“Commander Karuga!!!”
“Irene!!”
Upon seeing Karuga and Irene, Allen and Alicia greeted them with expressions as if they might burst into tears.
With a composed smile, Karuga (Yuren) said to Allen:
“Thank you for believing in me, Sergeant Allen.”
“Not at all!!!! Compared to what you’ve endured, it’s nothing!!!!”
Allen was on the verge of tears witnessing the scene. Their fight wouldn’t just be recorded as a mere battle.
This would be written as a legend.
The glory of being able to fight as Karuga’s right hand filled Allen’s heart with pride.
Then Alicia, curious, asked Irene:
“Those aren’t from the Wyvern Corps of the Kingdom of Ra; they’re black dragons. How did you summon them?”
“Thanks to Karuga’s connections!”
“Connections?”
Irene didn’t elaborate further, but Alicia understood that Yuren had done something significant.
Meanwhile, Alan thought, ‘Wow! Karuga has connections even with black dragons!! That’s impressive!!!’ adding yet another legend to Karuga’s tale.
Then, mounted and using amplification magic, Yuren, as the military commander, bellowed so all of Southern Plains could hear:
“All soldiers, listen!!!! You’ve done well to trust and endure. But it won’t be long now. If we annihilate the demons over there, everything will come to an end. The moment to finish everything is drawing near!!!!”
Though half of the demon army had been shattered in the prior battle, half of their forces still remained in the back.
Those likely housed the Demon Lord’s main force.
While they shouldn’t be underestimated, the battle between 20,000 demons and 10,000 Southern soldiers bolstered by black dragons favored the Southern Army’s odds.
“If you wish to live, you must die, and if you wish to die, you will live… Everyone!!!! Charge!!!!!”
[ “Uwaaaahhhhh!!!!!!!” ]
Under Yuren’s command, the Southern Army began their charge en masse.
With morale high from the previous battle, the Southern soldiers surged forward like hungry beasts, ready to devour the monsters before them.
The demon’s stronghold, unable to remain passive, began to respond.
Among the monsters, particularly fierce were the towering elephant-like beasts called Minotaurs, stepping forward one by one.
No matter how fierce the momentum, ordinary human soldiers couldn’t defeat that Minotaur brigade, and their skin could probably withstand even the black dragons’ breaths.
But what would happen if the divine beast Ragnix appeared?
“Whooooosh— Kuuaaaah!!!!”
Boasting a size twice that of a regular black dragon, Ragnix inhaled deeply from the sky before unleashing its dragon breath.
Instead of the typical flame breath laced with dragon magic, the breath that shot forth, compressed far beyond imagination, formed into a red beam like a laser, striking down upon the demon’s beast forces.
Even Minotaur hides, known for their heat resistance, couldn’t endure Ragnix’s flames, and they were obliterated in searing heat.
“The black dragon’s leader has slain the Minotaurs!!!”
“Soldiers!!! Advance!!!!”
Karuga (Yuren), awestruck by the divine beast’s power, thought, ‘Is this the might that crushed over 50 magic armored knights?!’ as he surged along with the charging soldiers towards the demon forces.
Yuren saw this as an opportunity.
History documents, regretfully, often show that the Demon Lord reaches the World Tree.
Fortunately, Karuga had combated that thus far, but Yuren didn’t know how to defend the World Tree from a Demon Lord who had reached it.
Thus, despite the change in history, the surest method was to confront the Demon Lord right there.
“Seek the Demon Lord!!! Wizard Corps, prepare!!! I will take the Demon Lord’s head with me!!!!”
“Yes!!!”
“Understood!!!”
Afterward, the Southern Army, in coalition with the black dragons, clashed with the Demon Lord’s forces.
With their beast brigade wiped out, the Demon Army had no means to withstand the impact.
A one-sided slaughter commenced.
“Die, demon scum!!!”
“This is the share of Commander Sif!!!! This is the share of Commander Meck!!!!!”
As kin and comrades fell to the demons, soldiers, fueled by vengeance, began to unleash their fury.
While they unleashed chaos upon the battlefield, Yuren soared into the air, searching for the Demon Lord’s flag.
At the very back of the formation, he spotted the flag, sensing a particularly sinister power radiating from it, Yuren immediately sprang into action.
“There! The Demon Lord is over there. Everyone, follow me!!”
With that, Karuga (Yuren) flew towards the Demon Lord’s forces alongside the Wizard Corps.
Though the demon ranks had their own wizards, the interference they posed wasn’t enough to stop Karuga (Yuren).
They arrived at the Demon Lord’s formation.
‘(That must be… the Demon Lord…)’
Upon arrival at the Demon Lord’s forces, I felt immediately that the figure before me was the Demon Lord.
With an amount of dark power unmatched compared to the other demons, its menacing, single-horned presence, and eyes that seemed to mock all existence made me uneasy.
Before I could speak, a nearby demon, apparently one of the Demon Lord’s aides, shouted:
“Kill all the humans!!!”
“Craaaack!!!”
The Demon Lord’s aides lunged at us, and my master alongside the Elf Wizard Corps responded accordingly.
Thus, the battle began between the Demon Lord and myself.
“[Flame Spear Magic]!!!”
“■■■■ -!!”
The flame spear I fired clashed with a sphere of purple magic shot from the Demon Lord’s hand, and explosions erupted as we engaged.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Kabloom!!!
A multitude of purple magic orbs launched from the Demon Lord’s body toward me.
I used flight magic to evade while countering the magic projectiles with wind and fire spells.
Dodging those attacks wasn’t too hard, but I couldn’t afford to become complacent.
The unknown incantations from demons launched magic-infused projectiles, and brushing against them was akin to receiving a venomous snake bite.
Moreover, considering the Demon Lord’s magic, the poison would likely transcend all imagination, so I responded defensively to every assault.
After exchanging a few volleys, the Demon Lord’s mood appeared to sour.
“This is boring!!! What is this? Human!! I anticipated an extraordinary challenge, yet you make it so dull!!!?”
It seemed the Demon Lord was growing irritated with my defensive stance.
To that unimpressed Demon Lord, I had a little surprise weapon to offer.
“You want something interesting? How about this!!”
I pulled out a pipe gun that I had hidden in my coat, prepared in case of emergencies.
In the event of unforeseen circumstances, I hastily crafted a single-shot pipe gun using materials like metal scraps and fire slimes from this other world.
This hurriedly made weapon was designed to fire a single shot of 12 gauge (18.5mm) slug cartridges. With no rifling, it was likely to miss if fired beyond 5-6m.
But that was more than sufficient.
In a world dominated by magic, this sudden physical attack would be something even a Demon Lord couldn’t easily evade.
I aimed and fired the pipe gun at the unaware Demon Lord.
Thwang!!!!
The massive kinetic energy of the 12-gauge lead slug hurtled straight at the demon king, penetrating his defensive magic.
His left shoulder exploded outward, propelling him against the wall while I discarded the now smoking, broken pipe gun and approached the Demon Lord.
“This is the end, Demon Lord…”
“Hah… Hah… Hah…”
Though his left shoulder was blown apart, the Demon Lord didn’t seem to suffer any real damage.
With his overflowing magic, he had already begun to regenerate, and I intended to finish him off before he completely healed.
However, the Demon Lord wore a creepy smile as he spoke.
“What are you saying, human! This is just getting interesting!!”
At that moment, a magical tool appeared in the Demon Lord’s right hand.
It resembled a tambourine, the same magic tool that had sent me to this place.
No way!! Could it be!?
“To the World Tree.”
Boom—
I hurriedly unleashed a wind slash, but the Demon Lord was faster.
A blue gate opened beneath him, and as he disappeared into it, the gate closed, rendering my wind slash an empty gesture, raising only dust upon the ground below.
The World Tree was in danger.
