Editing Chronicle Legion:Volume 2 Chapter 6 (section)

===Part 3===

A magic circle, seventy meters in diameter, manifested in the sky over the tutelary fort.

The magic circle was a product of oriental magic with complicated patterns and Sanskrit characters. The gigantic "dragon image," comparable to the magic circle in size, was precisely the ifrit Seiryuu.

Its serpentine body was covered with sapphire-blue scales with two deer-like antlers on its head and stubby limbs.

The gigantic dragon image had occupied the air majestically.

Ifrits were supposed to release powerful noetic energy to create a dome-shaped noesis barrier to cover the entire tutelary fort.

But right now, Seiryuu was not using its noetic energy for defense.

Seiryuu roared fiercely and attacked the British Legions.

The image of the blue dragon opened its gigantic jaws and lunged at the 612 Escalibors that were charging at full power in a wedge formation.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

As noetic divinities, ifrits were ultimately conglomerates of noetic energy. Their gigantic bodies were not corporeal.

Hence, Seiryuu's massive jaws unleashed noetic energy which was normally used to create noesis barriers.

The surge of noetic energy turned into gigantic magic circle, glowing with divine radiance.

The British Legions crashed into the circle, head on, of course.

Formidable noetic energy had been poured into the magic circle, sufficient to serve as a tutelary fort's defensive wall, and was equivalent to a noesis barrier compressed into a round shape.

Colliding with something like this would cause massive injuries to the charging side.

The Escalibors in the tip of the wedge formation, reaching one third of the entire army, were struck by the violent armor-shattering impact, causing many of them to become dismembered or decapitated in the process.

Suffering such heavy injuries to their brain and internal organs, humans would have died on the spot.

Richard's army suffered at the hands of their excessively powerful charge. However, the heavily wounded Escalibors were undeterred.

"How interesting&mdash;"

Richard the Lionheart smiled proudly.

Together with the Escalibor phantom, he was at the very back of the wedge formation.

"According to legend, we Plantagenets are the cursed brood with the devil's blood flowing in our veins! A devil on earth... will never fear a mere dragon!"

The red wedge's tip, one third of the army, was already in a broken state.

However, the 612 Escalibors in the formation continued to charge, breaking through the magic circle of the noesis barrier.

Even the giant image of the blue dragon was almost trampled to dust.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh&mdash;!

Seiryuu's scream resounded across Suruga's night sky.

Richard's army finally arrived in the sky over the tutelary fort and was about to invade the enemy base.

The remaining job was simple. He would continue to push forward and clear out the army of red-purple samurai, checkmate the soldiers defending the fort, and end the battle.

At that moment, the Lionheart frowned.

"Hmm?"

After charging at full might against the giant dragon, the 612 Escalibors rapidly lost flying speed. The effects of the Feat of Arms had ended.

Namely, the effects allowing the Legions to finish a charge even in the face of death&mdash;

Coeur de Lion's astounding and miraculous effects vanished.

Having charged at full strength and speed, the wedge formation slowed down more and more. Finally, it was no faster than a car driving along urban streets.

This was not the worst of it.

Charging the ifrit had caused severe damage to more than one third of the army.

Among them, the Escalibors with fatal injuries such as broken necks and ruptured internal organs began to crash one after another. Death had taken them long ago.

Richard shrugged and said, "Oh well, the four hundred remaining will suffice."

There were still 432 Escalibors surviving.

They would have no trouble defeating the scattered red-purple samurai that had fled or Surugu's defending forces.

"Regroup and assemble at my side."

Controlling his wyvern, Richard made his way to the center of the army that had slowed down dramatically.

The 432 Escalibors were beginning to form a sphere when they were violently attacked by focused gunfire from the side.

Imperial Japan's blue Legions, 150 Kamuys, had taken flight to enter the fray.

All troops in this corps fired in unison. Escalibors began crashing down again, the ones unlucky enough to be shot in their vitals.

"New enemies? Activate your barriers, my knights!"

Richard commanded confidently but was met by a surprising outcome.

The white particles of the 432 Escalibors' spherical formation were quite weak, roughly half as strong as usual. Too much of their ectoplasmic fluid had been consumed.

The surprised Richard instantly figured out the reason.

"Tachibana, this was your plan all along!"

The 203 red-purple Legions returned to the battlefield to support their allies.

The red-purple Legions were identical in appearance and size as the Kamuys except in color. Their special Japanese swords had also turned back into bayonet rifles. Compared to the Escalibor or the Crusade&mdash;the strong British Legions&mdash;their physique was a size smaller.

Judged according to the Lionheart's aesthetics, these troops were weak and scrawny.

Glaring sharply at the Japanese forces, Richard gnashed his teeth.


"He finally fell into the trap..."

Akigase Rikka muttered to herself, soaring the sky on her wyvern.

She was flying alone some distance from the tutelary fort. Slightly earlier, the ifrit Seiryuu had been broken, failing to block the invasion of the hundreds of Escalibors.

However, the red soldiers of this British army were crashing down one after another.

Seizing the moment when the enemy was low on ectoplasmic fluid, Rikka had ordered the 150 Kamuys she had summoned to open fire.

Furthermore, the 203 Kanesadas led by Tachibana Masatsugu had assembled on the opposite side of Rikka's army.

The two of them had the 430 or so Legions of Richard's army caught in a pincer attack. With Rikka's forces on the left and Masatsugu's forces on the right, they sprayed gunfire simultaneously.

The Suruga side had set up two crescent formations in the shape of "( )."

Richard's army was perfectly sandwiched between them.

"Do not let up on the attack. Leave them no room to breathe!"

Under attack from both sides, the Lionheart's army formed a sphere and deployed a protective barrier.

The left side of the sphere desperately returned fire against Rikka's Kamuys while the right side handled Masatsugu's Kanesadas.

The British had numbers on their side, but were stuck in a desperate predicament.

On the Suruga side, Rikka and Masatsugu's forces totaled only 350 or so.

The Escalibors' protective barrier was powered by roughly 430 Legions, normally capable of neutralizing much of the Suruga side's volleys of sweeping gunfire, but ectoplasmic fluid depletion had sharply reduced its effectiveness&mdash;

Half the shots penetrated the barrier's particles, striking Richard's army directly.

The Escalibors ended up dying and crashing one after another.

"Now, a chance for victory is in sight."

Surveying the battlefield, Rikka breathed a sigh of relief.

The theory behind Tachibana Masatsugu's trap to hunt the lion was actually quite simple.

'I will first intercept his army outside the tutelary fort and lure him to Suruga while depleting his ectoplasmic fluid. Finally, we attack him all together.'

To accomplish this, Tachibana Masatsugu had used all kinds of clever feints.

He first used samurai swordsmanship and initiated a duel to stimulate the target's combative spirit and passion, then deliberately got injured to pretend to be routed. His excitement reaching a climax, the king of knights would order his entire force to charge against Masatsugu's retreat.

Without these clever arrangements, the lion's keen nose might have smelled the presence of a trap.

Furthermore, during this process, the enemy was guaranteed to launch an overwhelming offensive. At last, while fighting on the run, Masatsugu managed to lure the enemy into attacking in full force, using a tactic that exhausted his troops the greatest.

The chase in the final stage was also part of Masatsugu's trap.

The Kanesadas and Kamuys were a size smaller than the Escalibors in physique.

Smaller builds naturally meant lighter weight. Flying at equal speed, the heavier side would exert themselves more, which meant greater consumption of ectoplasmic fluid. Rikka nodded in comprehension.

"The Kamys are smaller in build and always lose to the Crusades in contests of strength."

Using this tactic which turned the physique disadvantage around, they succeeded in dealing a heavy blow to the fierce king of of knights. Rikka felt exhilarated, but the battle still required close attention.

Only faring a little better than the British side, the Kanesadas were also depleted in ectoplasmic fluid.

Rikka began to think, assuming she were in Richard I's position&mdash;