The Kingdom of Ranleo lies to the northeast of the Kingdom of Filat.
It is considered a major power, ranking second in land area and third in population.
Its founder was the great wizard Klaus Adler, who, according to legend, sealed the Demon King Zagan along with the first King, Bernhardt.
Bernhardt eventually had a falling out with Klaus, and they parted ways to establish their own separate nations.
Perhaps it is due to this history that Ranleo has traditionally fostered magic education and maintains a poor relationship with the Kingdom of Filat.
When news reached Ranleo that Princess Lovisa of the neighboring kingdom had succeeded in improving a spell, high-ranking officials reportedly gnashed their teeth in frustration.
Consequently, Ranleo harbors a desire to invade Filat at any opportunity, but various factors have prevented it until now.
While Ranleo had annexed several smaller nations to bolster its national strength, this resulted in it becoming neighbors with formidable kingdoms such as the Kingdom of Seraeno to the east, the Berganda Empire to the north, and the Kingdom of Boltner to the northwest.
It was a predicament: to counter the Kingdom of Filat, they had to annex territory, but by doing so, they only created more enemies.
Proposals to reconcile with Filat were frequently put forth, but each time they were rejected.
“Why must we be friends with them? They are the enemies of our great nation’s founder, the Archmage Klaus!” roars a passionate advocate, his spittle flying. His sentiment was overwhelmingly supported.
Personal disputes can be troublesome enough, but when it comes to nations, the entanglement is far worse, to the point where it seems impossible to untangle.
This refusal to budge is partly attributed to the fact that the Filat side appears to be indifferent.
And so, the Kingdom of Ranleo was the most unsettled by the appearance of the Royal Court Magician Marius Tuban.
Despite their desperate efforts in intelligence gathering, they achieved little of note.
All they managed to acquire was the information that he had indeed defeated a Wyvern, and that he had won by fighting two-on-one against Lucas and Nilson.
The current King, Henry IV, after some deliberation, made his decision.
“We shall hunt Wyverns.”
The Liberiats Mountains within the Kingdom of Ranleo are a well-known habitat for Wyverns.
The aim was to dispatch a small, elite force to hunt them, thereby signaling that Ranleo’s military might was comparable to that of Marius Tuban.
The suggestion, “We should send an army to hunt Wyverns,” was rejected.
Had Princess Barra not expressed her agreement, the proposer would have likely been subjected to a barrage of insults.
Thanks to Barra, a sentiment of “Even the Princess faces difficulties” emerged, and the pursuit of the proposer faded into ambiguity.
Ultimately, it was decided to aim for only one Wyvern, and a force of fifteen, including Ranleo’s strongest mage, Philip Adler, and its strongest knight, Boris Bartosz, was dispatched.
They soon regretted this decision.
A Wyvern, approximately ten meters in length, that they happened to encounter before entering the mountains unleashed a Fire Breath from the sky.
“【Magic Shield】”
Philip deployed a magical barrier in front of them.
Wyvern breath is a type of magical attack that utilizes magic power, so it was expected that the soldiers’ magic-resistant armor would provide a double layer of mitigation.
“Ghh.”
The weakened breath still caused two soldiers to suffer burns and collapse.
The Wyvern circled in the sky, searching for an opening from a position beyond the reach of the soldiers’ weapons.
“【Ice Javelin】”
Three accompanying mages simultaneously cast their spells.
By casting the same spell on the same target simultaneously, they achieved the effect of a composite spell, an advanced combat technique.
This resulted in a block of ice, equal in size to the Wyvern, appearing and attacking it, but the Wyvern effortlessly dodged it.
Compared to dragons, Wyverns are inferior in attack power and stamina but possess high maneuverability.
Furthermore, they possess resistance to magic, making it difficult to inflict significant damage even with advanced spells, which is extremely troublesome.
While considered inferior to dragons, this comparison is relative.
As if to retaliate, it unleashed a Fire Breath, which was a size larger than before, capable of swallowing five or six soldiers.
“【Magic Shield】”
This time, all mages except Philip reacted in time, generating an enhanced magical barrier with an effect equivalent to a composite spell.
The massive fireball collided with the barrier, shrinking noticeably. Even as it reduced in size by half, it continued to fly towards the soldiers.
“【Water Wall】”
Philip created a wall of water with magic, successfully neutralizing the fireball.
The soldiers, specialized in close-quarters combat with weapons, had little opportunity to engage.
Despite several attempts to attack, they were unable to inflict a decisive blow due to the Wyvern’s scales.
There was also the fact that Wyverns possess high resistance to magical attacks.
It would not be unreasonable for the soldiers to begin wishing to return home.
Ideally, having archers present would have made things somewhat easier, but Ranleo has no archer units.
The kingdom’s pride as a magic kingdom hinders the development of archers.
Ranleo’s magic soldiers had achieved considerable results compared to archers from other nations, and this had not been a major issue until now.
Ranleo was one of the few countries that had not fought demons since its founding, and countermeasures had been postponed.
Philip and Boris were now acutely experiencing the folly of this.
(Are we fighting a monster that we might not even be able to defeat, solely for vanity? Is there truly no other way?)
They had already lost three men.
It was impossible not to question their actions, but to retreat now would be to abandon the soldiers who were still alive.
Failing to complete their mission and retreating after abandoning comrades was an affront to their pride.
For humans, the only course of action was attrition.
Their eyes met for a moment, and they nodded in understanding.
“I-I will fight too…”
With that, the fallen soldiers rose to their feet.
Seizing the moment when most were momentarily distracted, the Wyvern unleashed its breath again, targeting the newly risen soldiers.
“【Magic Shield】”
The not-so-careless mages simultaneously erected a barrier to defend themselves.
Perhaps due to its diminished power, the breath dissipated upon striking the barrier.
Simultaneously, three of the mages, excluding Philip, staggered and fell to their knees.
This was magic exhaustion.
They had been forced to fight without incantations.
The Wyvern charged towards these three mages.
The Wyvern’s stamina and magic were on an entirely different scale compared to humans.
“【Barricade】”
Philip hastily erected a barrier in front of the three, but it was too fragile on its own.
The barrier shattered the moment the Wyvern charged.
“Ghk!”
The two soldiers who had sustained burns stepped in front of the three mages and absorbed the full force of the charge.
With short screams, they were sent flying like scraps of paper caught in a strong wind.
While the mages were able to evade, the damage sustained by the two was undeniably fatal to anyone who witnessed it.
“Evans, Alec.”
There was no response to Boris’s call.
The detested Wyvern was once again soaring in the sky.
The mages, filled with regret, drank magic potions and stood up.
Philip also downed one. He believed that the only way to honor their fallen comrades was to defeat the Wyvern before them.
The Wyvern was not foolish, but it was not particularly intelligent either.
If it were intelligent, it would have returned to its nest or called for its kin.
And there were no signs of other Wyverns coming to its aid.
Therefore, the humans judged that they also had a chance.
As Philip drank his magic potion, the Wyvern charged again.
The humans reacted swiftly, deducing that the Wyvern tended to charge when it perceived a mage showing weakness.
Four soldiers, including Boris, stood before Philip, and all the mages cast “Barricade” towards them.
As the Wyvern shattered the barricade and its speed decreased, they counterattacked.
Boris narrowly dodged its fangs and struck at its throat, while the other soldiers avoided its claws and thrust their swords into the base of its forelegs.
At this point, the Wyvern’s own charge became its undoing.
Boris’s sword pierced its throat, and the other three swords sliced through its scales, drawing blood.
Even so, the Wyvern’s charge did not stop, and the four were forced to retreat.
With a dull thud, the swords of three men, excluding Boris, snapped.
All the mages supported Boris, and though they retreated, they managed to halt.
The Wyvern was dead, completely still.
“Did… did we win…”
Boris’s arms were numb, and he wouldn’t be able to use them for a while.
If his sword hadn’t been a renowned blade forged from Damascus steel, he was sure his body would have been crushed between its fangs.
He felt an immense destructive force.
When Boris pulled out his sword, red blood spurted out.
Five soldiers had died, and twenty-eight potions were consumed.
Considering they had fought a Wyvern, the losses were light.
“Is our mission complete? I never want to fight a Wyvern with this many people again.”
No one disagreed with Philip’s murmur. They all shared the same sentiment.
Not a single person among those who formed the vanguard was unharmed.
“Let’s take what we can and head back. It will make fine materials for crafting equipment,” Boris suggested. There were no objections.
They all understood that returning without taking anything would lead to reprimands.
Everyone, including the mages like Philip, carried daggers.
It was a battlefield custom, a basic precaution, “better than nothing,” and this time it proved fortunate.
For aside from Boris’s sword, all their other blades had broken and were unusable.
The Wyvern’s fangs, claws, and scales each served as materials for weapons and armor.
In particular, its scales, being resistant to both impact and magic, could be used to craft powerful armor.
It was presumed that Filat would also acquire formidable equipment.
The forceful measures taken were not merely a matter of national pride.
No one had even imagined that the Wyvern’s remains would vanish.
After finishing the dismemberment, they began to bury the fallen soldiers.
In regions where monsters like Wyverns that consume human flesh appeared, leaving the bodies unattended would undoubtedly result in them being devoured.
They cut off a lock of hair to present to their families.
Thus, the hastily formed “Wyvern Extermination Squad” completed their mission and began their journey home.
Along the way, Boris spoke to Philip.
“What are your thoughts on this Marius fellow?”
“Even if false information is spread, the truth will eventually come out. Filat is not so foolish as to believe it,” Philip replied cautiously.
“I agree. More importantly, the Wyverns were acting strangely.”
“They didn’t show themselves despite our intense battle. It’s an unprecedented situation.”
A soldier who overheard their conversation raised a question.
“Excuse me, while it’s true that the lack of appearance by other Wyverns is strange, how does that connect to Filat?”
Boris scoffed and answered.
“Don’t you know? Wyverns do not inhabit Filat.”
The soldier who asked, as well as the others, gasped in astonishment.
The appearance of Wyverns, which should not exist in Filat, and the absence of the Wyverns that *do* exist in Ranleo, could easily be connected.
Of course, jumping to conclusions so quickly would be dangerous.
“Regardless, Marius Tuban is undoubtedly a monster. I sincerely hope the proponents of peace, led by Princess Barra, succeed. At least while Marius Tuban is in Filat.”
The soldiers nodded repeatedly as Boris spoke.
Even they did not wish to face monsters that could instantly kill those whom they had fought with their lives on the line, resulting in casualties, and that they had barely managed to defeat.
“This is still unconfirmed information, but…”
Philip spoke as if murmuring to himself.
“Marius Tuban is apparently participating in the ‘Demonplay’.”
Faces turned towards Philip in shock.
Those participating in the Demonplay were the top mages of their respective countries. In Ranleo’s case, that was Philip himself.
He was a formidable contender, having won three consecutive championships, and was hailed as one of the continent’s three strongest, alongside Lucas of Filat and Hemrooth of Seraeno.
“You bear a grave responsibility, as one who bears the surname of our nation’s founder, Klaus.”
“Please don’t remind me. I’m already feeling more than enough pressure,” Philip replied with a wry smile to Boris, who spoke with a mix of encouragement and teasing.
Klaus had married a princess of the deceased Ranleo and changed his surname. However, among his sons, the third son, who was the most talented in magic, was granted the title of Duke, thus reviving the Adler surname.
As a result, the Adler family became the foremost ducal house, and it became customary for the nation’s top mage to hold the position of family head.
The expectations and pressure placed upon them were immense. In the past, any who lost to a representative of Filat in the Demonplay were banished from their families.
However, the fact that this did not happen repeatedly demonstrated the depth of talent among Ranleo’s mages.
“Personally, I hope Marius Tuban is either not that impressive, or he is strong enough to silence the hardliners.”
The most problematic scenario would be if Marius Tuban possessed only enough power to defeat Philip, or did not display his full strength.
It would be problematic if the head of the Adler family were so easily replaced.
Philip’s predecessor had been defeated by Lucas and subsequently banished.
That bitter memory still lingered in Boris’s heart.
“I wish for that as well. Though, I imagine it would be more advantageous for Filat if the head of the Adler family were to be replaced,” Philip replied, his expression a mixture of bitterness and regret.
Philip, Boris, and the other soldiers were, after all, citizens of Ranleo, and their perspectives were entirely their own.
Filat, on the other hand, would have been content with any head of the Adler family and did not conceive that they might consider a change of leadership undesirable given the current ominous signs.
