Published: January 15, 2026
You can't control the knights unless you see them with your own eyes. Since Arte said so, I moved up onto the castle wall with Row, Kamushin, and the others protecting me. Because it was dangerous, we also set up a semicircular protective wall on top of the castle wall. It looked like an Odaiba building.
"Lord Van, let's go back down immediately. Right away, okay?"
Til said this with a pale face, so I smiled wryly and nodded.
"Think we can do this?"
I made a horizontal slit in the protective wall and asked Arte while looking out over the battlefield. Arte shook her shoulders but nodded firmly in response.
"…It's okay. A pair of silver knights (Aventadors), please!"
Arte invoked magic as if praying. Immediately after, there was a loud noise outside the protective wall. Through the slit, I saw a slender, long doll's hand and a gleaming Mithril greatsword.
Oh, they really do move as smoothly as humans. While I was thinking that and watching, suddenly both of them jumped down from the castle wall. Although it was a medium-sized fort, the castle wall was quite high. The light armor was one thing, but the dolls’ bodies were made of wooden blocks. I thought their strength was about that of iron, but I wondered if they would be okay.
I stayed silent so as not to disturb Arte, who was concentrating, but inside I was nervously tracking the dolls as they fell to the ground.
However, it seemed to be an unnecessary worry. As soon as Arte’s dolls landed, they started running and headed straight toward the enemy knight order. At that speed, it would be impossible to aim the ballista. What we had to be careful of was something else.
"Arte, watch out for Black Orbs. If someone makes a motion like they're about to throw something, dodge quickly either to the left or right."
"Y-yes!"
Arte obediently replied to my instructions and desperately controlled the dolls. Even though I thought the distance was quite close and had Arte send out the dolls, they were still farther away than I expected. I was worried about Arte’s mana.
Just then, multiple explosions occurred near Arte’s dolls. So they did have Black Orbs.
"Dodged it."
"Good. Then let's attack while running through the enemy knight order, so they can’t recklessly throw Black Orbs."
"Understood!"
I gave the next order, and Arte immediately moved the dolls accordingly. Piercing through the smoke caused by the explosions, the dolls charged instantly into the enemy knights' ranks.
Like bowling pins being knocked down, the two dolls ran through the enemy knight order spreading sideways. The ferocity of the fight was so intense that some knights dropped their swords and fled. Well, if a knight charged at me ignoring cuts and stabs, I’d probably run away too. It’s super scary.
"Lord Van! Flying dragons! They’re coming!"
As I shuddered from the terror of Arte’s dolls, a report came in that flying dragons had arrived. I approached the slit and looked up at the sky. Indeed, I saw what looked like a wyvern in the upper sky, moving quite high up.
"Ballista won’t reach that far. Mr. Panamera, are you somewhere nearby?"
I struggled to find Panamera from the slit. Suddenly, Panamera’s face popped out from outside the protective wall’s slit.
"Did you call?"
"Whoa!"
Startled, I stepped back. Panamera laughed heartily, seeming to enjoy himself despite the bombardment noises and vibrations still coming in. What a bold personality.
"Don’t scare me like that!"
I complained, but Panamera just shook his head from side to side with a mischievous smile.
"I didn’t mean to surprise you. I just showed my face because you called."
Hearing that, I reconsidered—he probably wasn’t trying to scare me with a loud voice. Well, considering Panamera’s personality, it’s more likely he intended to scare me, but I decided to believe in the good in him.
Sighing, I pointed to the wyvern and made a request.
"Mr. Panamera. Can you do something about those wyverns?"
"Isn’t that the plan? I’ll handle it."
When I asked, Panamera smiled manfully and walked away. A dozen seconds later, the sky suddenly turned red.