Grim Situation

About an hour later, the blaze had completely swallowed the entire forest. Flames shot into the sky, staining the pitch-black night a blazing red. From high above, it looked like an enormous crimson patch had appeared upon the earth.

Three or four kilometers east of the forest, the soldiers who had narrowly escaped death gathered together. Gazing at the firelight in the distance, they were still shaken by the ordeal.

"...Take a headcount."

After an hour of desperate rescue efforts, Benjamin was exhausted as well. His head swam as he stood amid the crowd with his hands braced on his knees, saying this to the System.

A moment later, the System replied, "Twenty thousand soldiers escaped successfully. More than half of the entire force was lost in the forest. However, the number of mages remains at around two thousand. More than half our weapons and supplies were destroyed, but what remains is barely enough to support this battered army."

Benjamin nodded without saying anything.

At that moment, a crushing heaviness welled up inside him. No matter what, he had been the one to devise the ambush, and the bishops' and priests' spontaneous combustion had been directly triggered by him. He suddenly understood what a decision-maker truly had to bear.

Even General Kent seemed to have died in this ambush...

"You need not feel guilty over this. It was an extraordinary ambush." The chairman suddenly spoke. "In one stroke, we wiped out over ten thousand knights and more than a thousand priests from the Hori Kingdom, while also killing three bishops. This is a devastating blow to The Church. You defended Ikor's dignity. Every sacrifice was worth it."

"...Thank you."

Benjamin took a deep breath and gradually pulled himself together.

"Let's go. We should leave this place as soon as possible,"