I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Seeing that Qing Deng was no longer able to stop any of his attacks, he took a deep breath and raised his sword high once more—

hum...

With a swift stroke, Yamada's head, its eyes wide with pain, fell to the ground, the blood flowing out staining the pristine snow like a vibrant red plum blossom.

"Saito!" Qing Deng roared, "Give me that short gun at your feet!"

Saito nodded vigorously, then stretched out his right foot, used his toe to pick up a short gun next to his foot, and threw it to Aoto.

After catching the short spear thrown by Saito, Aoto impaled Yamada's head on the tip of the spear.

"Your commander has been killed in battle!" Qing Deng raised his short spear high, so that everyone around could see Yamada's head stuck in the spear.

Qingdeng's shouts echoed throughout every corner of the battlefield.

Komuro stared at the bloody head held high by Aoto, momentarily stunned, then reacted with lightning speed, raising his sword and shouting:

"Your commander is dead—!"

The other guards also joined in the shouting.

They cheered louder and louder, repeating the same thing over and over:

"Your commander is dead—!"

"Your commander is dead—!"

……

Yamada's death was undoubtedly a fatal blow to the morale of the anti-foreign guerrilla group.

After experiencing "the defense line could not be breached" and "Qingdeng swept through thousands of troops", the morale of the Expeditionary Force had already declined to the point of collapse.

When they saw that Qingdeng had advanced directly into their rear as if it were empty and killed Yamada, who was in charge of commanding them, their morale immediately collapsed like an avalanche.

The vast majority of "patriots who resisted foreign aggression" were a group of opportunists who were struggling to make ends meet.

Living in poverty and seeing no hope of upward mobility, they pinned their hopes for changing their lives on "expelling the barbarians."

They hoped to gain fame and fortune and change their lives by taking advantage of the ongoing and vigorous "Expel the Barbarians Movement".

This is why the vast majority of "patriots who resisted foreign aggression" were a group of poor, emaciated warriors who were barely clothed.

Let these speculators fight when things are going well, but let them fight when things are going badly?

How much fighting spirit can you expect from these speculators?

As Qingdeng had predicted, the enemy forces began to collapse.

More and more people hurriedly scattered and fled, trying to get away from this bloody battlefield.

More and more people fled, escaping in droves.

"Hey! Don't run away! We still outnumber them by a huge margin! It's not time for us to give up yet!"

"Come back! Don't run away! If you retreat at the slightest setback, how will we ever expel all the barbarians from our country?!"

……

Some people who still retained some fighting spirit tried to call back these fleeing people.

But as more and more people fled, even those who still had the will to fight began to waver.

Seeing the enemy ranks begin to scatter, Komuro and the others excitedly launched a pursuit.

You bunch of bastards beat us pretty badly just now!

Before Qing Deng appeared and began his micro-management, Komuro and his team had been constantly suppressed by the Exile Group.

So many of our comrades were killed by you, and we were almost killed by you too... It's impossible not to feel a surge of anger!

Seeing the arrogant members of the Expeditionary Force now scattering like stray dogs, how could Komuro and the others not be excited and thrilled?

They spontaneously pursued the fleeing enemy, relentlessly beating the routs of these soldiers.

Komuro and his men's pursuit of victory directly led to a further acceleration of the enemy's defeat.

Of course, Komuro and his team weren't blinded by this victory.

What if someone sneaks off to ambush Anthony and his men while they're all out chasing after the fleeing soldiers?

Therefore, before personally leading a retaliatory pursuit, Komuro left several subordinates to protect Anthony and his men.

Anthony... his expression had become exceptionally interesting ever since he started micro-managing the defense.

He stared blankly at the battlefield where the tide of battle had suddenly turned, his mouth slightly agape.

From near-death to a resounding victory... the speed of the turnaround is so fast that Anthony still can't process it.

“Anthony.”

At that moment, an aged voice rang out from behind Anthony.

"Kiryu?" Anthony quickly turned around in the direction of the voice.

Kiryu, carrying a long, narrow cloth bag, led Kinoshita Mai slowly toward Anthony.

"Miss Mai!" (in French) Seeing Kinoshita Mai appear before her unharmed, Elodie, her face filled with excitement and joy, quickly broke free from Leroy's embrace and ran towards Kinoshita Mai. Then, she and Kinoshita Mai, who was also showing excitement and joy behind Elodie, hugged each other tightly.

"Kiryu!" Anthony gritted his teeth as he looked at Kiryu who had suddenly appeared. "Where were you all this time?!"

"Young Master and I were at the northernmost part of the camp just now," Kiryu said calmly. "It's quite far from here, and clearing out the enemies blocking our path took a lot of time."

After saying that, Kiryu turned his gaze back to Aoto, who was still holding Yamada's head high.

"What an extraordinary young man..."

Kiryu's eyes narrowed slightly as he scrutinized Aoto with a meaningful gaze, murmuring in a volume only he could hear:

"He actually managed to unite Komuro and his men single-handedly, and successfully killed the enemy general in the thick of the enemy ranks..."

As soon as he finished muttering, the old man seemed to suddenly realize something. He opened his eyes slightly, slowly turned his gaze, and looked towards the southeast.

"...This battle doesn't seem to be going to end just yet."

……

……

"Huff...! Huff...! Huff...! Huff...!"

Aoto, still holding Yamada's head aloft, had his chest heaving violently like a blower.

Saito's condition was even worse than Aoto's at this moment. Although Aoto's breathing was rapid, his breathing rhythm was not disordered.

Saito's breathing was now completely disordered, and he was unable to adjust it back to a normal rhythm for a long time.

Even though his physical strength was nearing its limit, Saito still faithfully fulfilled his mission. He covered his left arm and silently continued to stand beside Aoto, guarding against anyone wearing a blood-red haori getting close to him.

Qingdeng looked up and looked around at himself.

The "airflow" on the battlefield... began to gradually shrink and dissipate.

Watching the surrounding "airflow" gradually dissipate like mist, an idea inexplicably popped into Qing Deng's mind:

We won... These enemies are no longer any threat...

Feeling a great weight lifted off his shoulders, Qingdeng let out a long sigh of relief.

But at that moment—

Cha-cha-cha-cha-cha...!

A series of hurried footsteps suddenly erupted behind Qingdeng!

As the footsteps sounded, the "airflow" on the battlefield, which had almost dissipated, suddenly grew stronger and surged towards Qingdeng's back!

Qing Deng's pupils contracted sharply, and he immediately turned around.

The next instant he turned his gaze behind him, he saw a short, wielding figure leap up from the ground.

As the figure leaped to the highest point, he raised his spear above his head and, using the force of gravity, slammed the spear in his hand down heavily on Qingdeng!

Aoto and Saito noticed the spear hurtling towards them almost simultaneously, and then jumped backward with force almost at the same time.

Bang!

The spear slammed heavily onto the spot where Qing and Zhai had just stood, kicking up clumps of snow and snow mist.

After escaping backward, Qingdeng quickly regained his footing upon landing and then looked at the snow mist in front of him.

Beneath the snow and mist stood a burly man with an extremely robust build, wielding two spears.

Suehiro was sent out from the "main camp" to support the front-line battlefield.

"Come back here, all of you!" Mo Guang roared. "We still have so many men! We're not at our wits' end yet!"

Suehiro was a man with a very loud voice, and his roar clearly reached the ears of everyone still on the battlefield.

"It's Mr. Suehiro! Mr. Suehiro has arrived!"

"Mr. Suehiro has arrived!"

……

Upon seeing Suehiro and the 30 "reserve" members he brought, the atmosphere of the Exile Group, which was on the verge of collapse, immediately changed.

Whether they wanted to continue fighting or run away like the others, hope rose on their faces and their eyes lit up with renewed fighting spirit when they saw Suehiro appear.

"There are reinforcements?" Upon seeing Suehiro suddenly appear and the "reserve force" following closely behind him, the guards, led by Komuro, all turned pale.

"..." Looking at Suehiro in front of him, Aoto silently threw aside the short gun with Yamada's head stuck in it that he was holding in his left hand.

The "airflow" that was about to dissipate all concentrated on Suehiro.

The "airflow" gathering around Suehiro... was much greater than the "airflow" that had gathered around Yamada earlier!

"Are you the commander-in-chief...?" Qing Deng murmured.

As Aoto was sizing up Suehiro, Suehiro was also sizing up Aoto.

"...Upon closer inspection, aren't you Tachibana Aoto...?" Suehiro's face was as dark as the clouds above their heads.

Suehiro, as an important cadre in the Extermination Group second only to Kamino, naturally recognized Aoto, who was also one of their targets.

—Do they know me?

Upon hearing Suehiro call out his name so accurately, Aoto immediately realized something and frowned.