Differences in Status, in the strength of Skills, and in race — all are starkly apparent.
It is difficult for the weak to defeat the strong.
Even if one challenges a being of overwhelming power, victory is hard to come by.
On this battlefield, the ones who possessed that overwhelming power were the Queen Taratect and the two Ancient Dragons facing her.
With the Queen Taratect defeated and the two Ancient Dragons gone to the next battlefield, there was no longer anyone on this field capable of running a one-sided slaughter.
Had the two Ancient Dragons stayed behind and begun sweeping up our forces, the casualties would have been catastrophic.
That they didn't was a stroke of luck — one that worked in our favor.
Fighting someone of overwhelming power doesn't change the math, even with numbers.
It's the same whether you try to overwhelm them with sheer numbers or not.
Even if ten people with a Status around a thousand ganged up on someone with a Status around ten thousand, victory would be unlikely.
They'd be crushed in a single blow.
In a battlefield where powerful individuals exist, the key is how you take those individuals down.
But when the individual in question is too powerful, there's often nothing you can do.
This battlefield no longer had any individuals that overwhelmingly powerful.
That said, differences in individual combat ability still remained.
At that point, the question became how to suppress those with greater combat strength.
Naturally, the stronger fighters end up clashing with other strong fighters.
Matching a weak opponent against a powerful one usually just gets the weak one instantly killed without dealing meaningful damage.
That said, one can't underestimate the power of numbers.
Even if the damage a single person inflicts is negligible, when dozens or hundreds repeat the attack, the cumulative damage becomes impossible to ignore.
Numbers had already flipped in our favor.
The Taratects that once blanketed the ground were nearly all dead, their corpses left exposed to the elements.
What remained were only the powerful ones — Greater Taratects, Arch Taratects, and the like.
Even those powerful Taratects were fighting hard but losing ground under the pressure of superior numbers.
The Greater Taratects were surrounded by many humans, taking damage bit by bit.
The Arch Taratects were being engaged by the most elite combatants among the Human race and the Demon race — they charged in recklessly, coordinating clumsily but effectively enough.
Among them, I spotted several familiar faces.
Lord Barty was one thing, but seeing Lady
We had once served together as division commanders in the same Demon race army.
Now, here we were, standing on opposite sides.
I won't pretend that didn't stir something in me.
But I had sworn to follow my young mistress to the very end.
No matter how long we'd known each other, I intended to show no mercy.
The same went for reincarnators.
"So this is the third time we've faced each other," I said.
"That's right."
Before me stood a reincarnator boy and girl.
Tagawa
I had encountered them three times before.
The first was when I destroyed the settlement of their tribe.
Back then, they were still children. I let them go because they were reincarnators.
The second was during the last great war.
I crossed blades with them when they had grown older.
And now, this was the third time.
Judging by the remaining forces on both sides, my existence was something the enemy could not simply ignore.
This wasn't hubris, but I was likely the strongest combatant remaining on either side of this battlefield.
And so, these two reincarnators had come to stop me.
"I won't hold back," I warned them.
Up until now, I had been lenient because they were reincarnators.
But this time, I would not.
Many reincarnators hadn't known anything about this world. They had simply been caught up in events beyond their control.
But that was no longer the case.
There was no need to go easy on those who had chosen to fight.
Besides, I was never skilled enough to hold back and still fight properly.
If I was going to do it, I'd do it to kill.
"You're on, then—"
Kunihiko's spirited retort cut off abruptly.
Kunihiko's body slowly crumpled to the ground.
"Sorry, Kunihiko."
Asaka, who had knocked him out from behind, offered the apology.
"What… are you doing?"
"I'm surrendering."
Asaka stated it calmly.
"I don't want to die yet, and I don't want Kunihiko to die either."
Shouldering the unconscious Kunihiko, Asaka turned her back to me and began walking away.
A brazen battlefield retreat.
For a moment, I was stunned.
But Asaka's judgment was the right one.
I had no personal grudge against these two.
They probably had one against me, but I had no particular desire to kill them first.
Asaka understood this, which was why she so openly showed me her back.
And if we fought, I would almost certainly kill them both.
I was never skilled enough to fight while holding back.
If I committed to a fight, I would use a sure method to end my opponent's life.
Given the Status gap between me and those two, the outcome would likely have been decided in an instant.
By me killing them.
Which meant surrendering before the battle even began was the right call.
Not coming to this battlefield at all would have been the optimal choice, but judging from Kunihiko's demeanor, that hadn't been possible.
I watched Asaka's retreating figure until it disappeared from view.
Choosing not to fight is also a perfectly noble choice, I believe.
I have no right to say that, given that I was the one who destroyed their homeland, but I pray that fortune finds those two in their future.
Merazophis VS Kunihiko & Asaka A fated confrontation — Result: Merazophis wins by forfeit