As I was about to fall asleep, the fortress bell rang. The guards' shouts to alert their comrades were heard. The fortress commander's shouts giving instructions to his troops to immediately mount their horses were heard.
"Where are you going?" Iris asked, seeing me awake.
"Helping them." Kuti replied, waking up.
"Alright, just the two of you then. I want to sleep again," Iris replied and continued sleeping.
I took my combat gear and put it on. We both exited our tent, Kuti invited me to go up to the wall and see the situation.
"Ah, messenger of the gods. I apologize for this commotion waking you both up." Said the archer captain up here.
"What's the situation?" Kuti asked.
"As you can see, that horde of cavalry outside carrying torches are fanatical troops from Naurs." The captain replied. "Their attack here is just a diversion. Meanwhile, the real attack is them raiding the village over there."
"Isn't that village part of Naurs territory?" Kuti asked.
"Yes, but we just feel strange if we don't help them. Especially since there are no Naurs security forces in close proximity to them." The captain replied. "The commander is heading there."
"Thank you for the information." Kuti took his arrow and began to aim. He chanted a spell and released his arrow.
His arrow shot forth and multiplied and glowed. Providing additional vision of the approaching enemy. "You said they were fanatics, right? But they don't look like fanatics."
Kuti took the binoculars from the archer captain and gave them back. The archer captain was surprised to see that the approaching force was a trained group of soldiers, but they carried no flags or identification.
"Signal your commander to return." Iris suddenly appeared behind me and snatched the binoculars from the archer captain. "They are Naurs rebels, from their clothing they are Wilderson."
"Shoot your light arrow again, Kuti. I want to count their numbers. If they came to raid the village, there shouldn't be too many." Iris requested.
Kuti shot his arrow once more, the flash of light from Kuti's arrow momentarily stunned the group of soldiers due to the glare. The archer captain shot a signal for his commander, who was heading to the village in Naurs territory, to return.
"Five hundred to six hundred." Iris said. "I think Thomas alone is enough to finish them all off."
"Huh?" I was surprised.
"Come on, do it and show your abilities." Iris smiled. "Don't worry, Kuti, from back here I will cheer you on."
"Hey, what if your husband here gets captured by them?" Kuti asked.
"I will go down if he gets caught." Iris replied.
The fortress commander returned and asked Iris what happened. Iris explained everything and he joined me to intercept the Naurs rebel forces. Our number was 50 light cavalry, with only me and the fortress commander wearing heavy combat gear, totaling 52 people.
Fortunately, the area around this fortress was grassy and located on a fairly high elevation. So, enemy forces wanting to attack had to climb a slight incline. From the information I got from Iris, most of them were ordinary soldiers who had no protective armor and few archers.
"Wouldn't it be better to attack directly rather than waiting like this?" The fortress commander asked me.
"Y-yes, but I don't underestimate the enemy too much. Who knows, it might just be a trap." I replied.
"It's not a trap," Maria appeared before me. "Just go ahead. It will be quite a lot of souls you get to increase your power."
Hearing Maria's words, I prepared everything to get ready to attack. Maria whispered, "It's better if you go alone. And show off your abilities at the same time."
"I-I'll go alone. You all stay behind me." I said to the soldiers behind me.
"How can that be.""Answered the fort commander. "The spirit of the Majagada soldiers is 'united we are strong'."
"Allow me to arrange the strategy," added the Fort Commander.
A light transformed my mace into a miasma, Maria's divine scythe weapon. Maria appeared before me again. "Just go by yourself. Later you can just apologize for acting on your own. Come on, give this scythe many souls."
I looked at my status points, all my weapon skill points became maxed out when using this weapon. But what turned negative was my HP points. Which means I have to keep killing enemies to prevent exhaustion and coma to increase my HP points.
I spurred this borrowed horse forward towards the enemy. The fort commander chased after me with his troops. Flare arrows from Kuti illuminated this battlefield. The enemy infantry formed a shield wall. In between them were slaves carrying pitchforks pointed forward.
My horse stopped, I dismounted and ran forward, swinging this scythe towards their shield wall. Their shields shattered and instantly broke. This miasma emitted a mouth and devoured the souls of enemies hit by my attack.
The slaves who saw this fled in fear. Slowly my eyes darkened again, my body moved on its own. I saw Maria controlling my body and enjoying slaughtering the enemies before her.
The sound of the scythe was like scything grass. One swing she made was not grass but souls, devouring them alive and sending them to another realm. I felt very light and gained immense power. Cries and screams of fear beautifully adorned this night.
"Fun, isn't it?" Maria asked.
"... ." I didn't answer her.
After a while, I managed to regain control of my body. Only the enemy commander and his remaining troops came to surrender to me.
"What's your na-name? On what grounds should I spare you?" I asked.
"I-I was just following orders! I actually didn't want to raid the Majagada border fort!" he replied.
The Fort Commander managed to catch up and capture the surrendering people. The scythe now disappeared and returned to being my mace. Maria smiled contentedly before me, this wandering god of death enjoying her meal.
"W-what kind of power was that?" asked the Fort Commander as he dismounted his horse.
"I-I don't know." I answered. "Capture everyone who surrendered and use them as forced laborers or for ransom demands."
I staggered towards my horse. I saw Kuti approaching me from afar, she spurred her horse quickly. Ah, my HP was only 1 after using this power. I held my horse's reins tightly, trying to get on it.
Some soldiers noticed my exhaustion and helped me. Kuti came and told them to lift me onto her horse. With the help of the soldiers, I finally managed to get on.
"Thank you," I said to the soldiers. "You truly are the best."
"Thank you for your help," Kuti also said. "Hold on tight. Don't fall."
"Yes." I smelled her perfume. "It smells so good, what perfume are you wearing?"
"Hey, hold on tight and don't say strange things!" she retorted.