"Are these the people you fight for? They don't care whether you live or die!"
Anger surged through Joan's chest as she roared at the enemies before her. "You're nothing but stepping stones for their rise to power. When they need you, they won't care how many of you die!"
The enemies who had narrowly avoided the volley of arrows stood rooted to the spot.
Joan's chest heaved. Anger drove her to do something bold—she tore off her helmet.
The sweat-dampened hair around Joan's face quickly frosted over in the cold wind. She exhaled and raised her helmet. "I'm Joan, the Imperial Princess! Even I'm on the front line, fighting alongside my Cavalry. Look at what your bosses are doing!"
The unsettled gang members turned their heads. The battle raged on all around them, while their bosses hid in the rear and did nothing.
"Are you really willing to die here so your bosses can climb over your corpses and live in luxury?"
Joan poured out her fury. "Now pick up your weapons, turn around, and fight—for me, but even more for yourselves!"
"We cannot be defeated!"
Joan was no orator, but sometimes the words mattered less than the timing.
Her words struck the enemies who had just watched their comrades die to friendly arrows, shaking their resolve. Just as they began to waver...
Boom, boom, boom, boom—
The rousing thunder of a War Drum suddenly echoed over the battlefield, shaking the very air.
For a moment, the chaos and killing stopped. Both sides looked toward the sound as the thin mist parted, revealing a formation of well-equipped Cavalry.
"Have the Round Table Brotherhood's Reinforcements arrived!?"
Captain Reyne and Jody looked up. Surrounded by warriors of the Skarlu United Organization, they were fighting desperately to keep the enemy away from