I Planned a Su*cide Mission and Got Kicked Out of the Party

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“Scatter the frontline’s momentum! Requesting target support!”

“Got it! 25-degree angles to the left and right from the northern direction! Get ready!”

In response to Margaret’s request for support, Jeongjae hurled three small flat magic circles toward the enemies. The flying magic circles sparkled blue as they nestled among the foes like floating targets from a shooting game.

Margaret simultaneously notched three arrows and shot them forward, releasing them like a burst. The arrows, seemingly shot arbitrarily, pierced all three magic circles simultaneously as if guided by some force.

As the arrows penetrated the magic circles, each one exploded with a bang, erupting like grenades. The orcs, who had been charging excitedly, were, of course, startled by the sudden explosions, causing their ranks to falter. After the merciless bombardment earlier, just hearing the blasts left many orcs terrified, some even dropping to the ground and covering their ears.

Of course, doing so would likely result in being trampled to death by the orcs following behind. After slinging her bow back over her shoulder, Margaret drew her sword with both hands and glanced back at Jeongjae.

“Looks like I’ll be going all out today. Make the proper preparations.”

“Body enhancement. Short-term agility boost. Evasive movement, distortion of enemy attacks.”

As blue light surrounded Margaret, it swirled around her body, enhancing her already extraordinary athleticism to an even greater level.

“Do you need automatic counterattacks?”

“Not necessary. Once I take a hit, it’s all over. I won’t allow even a single blow.”

“Alright, then let’s move on to the attack.”

With crackling electricity swirling around his hands, Jeongjae spoke. The moment the Grand Mage extended his hands forward, the lightning coiled around his arms surged toward Margaret’s sword and the dagger embedded in her boots.

“Lightning Blade. This one suits your taste better than the Flame Blade, huh?”

“Exactly. This one feels more exhilarating.”

“Everything you need is ready. Charge in! If you miss anything, I’ll help you out!”

“I won’t miss a thing, so don’t underestimate me!”

With graceful steps crackling with electricity, Margaret charged toward the enemy legion. Just before meeting the enemy, she leapt into the air, swinging her blades as she pierced deep into their ranks.

As she spun gracefully, the sight of Margaret was intertwined with the lightning that enveloped her, resembling a miniature hurricane. The force of her spin sent the heads of five orcs flying and knocked out twenty more behind them. As the orcs surrounding Margaret fell backward in unison, the monsters nearby rushed in to fill the gap.

Like a thunder god, the Elven Princess stomped her foot down onto the devastated beach, channeling currents into the ground. The moment she plunged the Lightning Blade into the gap she created with her footsteps, lightning erupted from the cracks, piercing through the orcs closing in on her.

The orcs were electrocuted, split in two, and met their demise in various explosive ways. Those who managed to approach Margaret, despite the lightning spouting from the ground, faced her sword which could strike from any direction.

With twelve orcs felled by her feet and nearly thirty more struggling for breath, Margaret offered a resting place for those still conscious.

“Margaret, around three hundred are regrouping behind us!”

Jeongjae shouted urgently upon spotting the orc horde rallying hastily, having lost their commander but with a capable enemy lieutenant still able to assume command. Acknowledging Jeongjae’s warning, Margaret turned around.

“Then request the target again!”

“Understood, let’s make it something big! Stay alert, as there are still enemies around!”

Another blue flat magic circle was summoned from Jeongjae’s hands, aimed at the clustered foes. Margaret waited for the magic circle to fly right into the enemy’s midst before leaping high to shoot an arrow.

The arrow struck true once more. As Margaret soared, her legs also pierced the throats of the charging orcs. Just before the magic circle exploded, Margaret kicked off the air with intent to amplify the blast, sending lightning toward the circle.

The arrow served as a detonator, while the lightning acted as an enhancer, resulting in a massive explosion that obliterated the three hundred orc troops in place.

It seemed that the previously remaining orc battalion commander had turned out to be the last of them. The orcs, lacking any leadership, began to panic and flee toward the sea, unable to figure out how to respond to the suddenly advancing human militia despite their previous chaos.

The tide of battle had shifted. With over a thousand enemy troops subdued within just thirty minutes of Margaret’s appearance, the scales were tipping ever more in humanity’s favor, solidifying their advantage that could collapse in an instant.

Among the orcs, some seemed ready to give up entirely and started jumping into the sea, attempting to swim home. However, the thought of swimming for thousands of kilometers was utterly absurd, and as the desperate Kraken began slaying the orcs leaping into the water, the military’s discipline was only spiraling into further chaos.

On the beach near the sea, mounds of weapons and helmets began to stack higher than the bodies. The terrified orcs had lost all their will to fight, throwing away their cumbersome gear. The Kraken whipped its tentacles, dragging unarmed orcs toward the sea to show a grim example, but the circumstances were already beyond what could be controlled for any kind of demonstration.

“Is this… the breath of heroes? Is this what comrades fighting together for three years feels like?”

Recovering somewhat from her exhaustion, Jenis muttered without realizing it.

The communication and battle that took place not through commands but through requests and responses, advice and reactions, created an equal relationship. Jenis felt a mix of envy and admiration bubbling within her.

“I need to push myself a bit more…”

“Mage!”

Convinced that they had successfully repelled the last organized assault of the orcs, Margaret approached Jeongjae. He nodded and drew back the hood of his robe, which had been covering his head.

“Looks like we need to wrap this up, huh?”

“I suggest calling the villagers here. We’re in a numerical advantage, and their morale seems excellent.”

“What? But if we act carelessly, we might lose someone!”

Jeongjae understood the implication of Margaret’s proposal. The villagers, despite their current high spirits, hadn’t participated in the battle yet. Jeongjae’s barrage had been outstanding, and Margaret had proven immensely powerful, preventing a single orc from crossing onto the village lands.

Certainly, Margaret saw that for the long-term unity of the territory, this victory needed to be shared. Jeongjae, however, couldn’t easily accept such a suggestion; he didn’t want needless sacrifices.

“I will protect them. Not a single civilian will die here. No, most of the orcs will be too frightened by the sight of three thousand humans advancing to dare fight back.”

“Is that so? Then I’ll count on you. If someone doubts the declaration of protection for you or Rose, they’d be borderline insane.”

Jeongjae turned to call out to Jenis.

“Jenis! If you have any energy left, head up to the village and bring the villagers down! On my signal, we’ll charge all at once!”

“Yes, My Lord! It’s finally time to finish things!”

With a bright expression, Jenis began running toward the village. Meanwhile, Margaret spent her time shooting arrows at the orcs wandering about as if bored.

Although Jeongjae could have assisted her with lightning arrows, he chose to conserve his strength instead of exhausting himself further.

Before long, the militia led by Jenis gathered at the southern beach. If the orcs had a single shred of sanity left, they’d recognize that their opponents were poorly equipped civilians, but to the now thoroughly confused orcs, it would have appeared as though a fully armed regular army, three times their number, had emerged from the ground.

Jeongjae shed the robe of the mage, picking up a spear that lay on the ground. The ‘VR’ insignia designed on the robe lent it a semblance of an emblematic banner.

“So that’s your flag. What’s its name?”

“It wasn’t recorded anywhere. But I think it should be Victoria.”

“Not a bad name. It’s a flag worth engraving into the enemies’ minds.”

Jeongjae walked toward Jenis, handing her the flag. Understanding the meaning behind receiving the banner, Jenis nodded and saluted him with her feet together. The over-excited villagers raised their diverse weapons, cheering loudly.

“Kill all the orcs!”

“We’ll make them regret touching Harriet’s Territory!”

“Let’s sweep them all into the sea!”

They realized they were on the winning side. In large-scale battles, that exhilarating feeling of victory, once experienced, made it impossible to find satisfaction in anything less.

Especially in a battle like today’s, where not a single casualty had occurred.

“Flame ship! Second wave attack! Deploy all remaining ships! This time, the target is the Kraken! After the bombardment, we’ll launch a simultaneous assault from the east at my signal!”

Jeongjae gave instructions to the garrison stationed in the corner of the eastern coast while using amplification magic. Soon, small fishing boats floated over, heading towards the Kraken. It seemed that the Kraken was too preoccupied with trying to gather the disorganized orcs for a counterattack to even be aware of their impending arrival.

The second wave of flame ships was an attack that could allow for hesitation. It wasn’t absolutely necessary, and it might have been better to leave resources for the fishermen’s livelihoods.

However, it was clear that the sea had been tainted by the Kraken’s presence, and the time it would take to restore it to a fishable state would be shorter than that to construct new vessels.

Yet, Jeongjae had personal feelings about delivering another blow to the Kraken, and when appealing for economic support from the surrounding territories post-battle, the phrase “not a single ship remains to be used” would resonate heavily.

Jeongjae decided to shoot fireballs into the sky as a signal for the charge. As the flame ships reached a sufficient distance from the Kraken, he simultaneously fired multiple fireballs toward it while signaling the charge to both sides.

With thunderous shouts, Jenis and Margaret led the militia into the fray against the remaining orc forces.

“Waaaaaah!”

The rustling robe that Jenis swung affirmed their identity as part of this army. Soon, a dozen garrison soldiers emerged from the eastern coast to clash with the orcs. Although they were significantly outnumbered overall, the scattering of orcs, numbering in the thousands, meant that the small numbers of the guards could not fully leverage their advantage.

However, the guards, reinforced by Jeongjae’s magic on their armor and having adopted the formations of heavy infantry, were sufficiently powerful, even if somewhat inexperienced, to push back the orcs.

The Kraken attempted to react swiftly to this assault, but the fireballs descended upon the flame ships even faster. Bang! Bang! Bang! The series of explosions hailing from its sides sent the creature howling in pain as it stumbled back ten meters.

As the Kraken lost control, the orcs began retreating toward the sea, ignoring the villagers charging from the south. Jenis fired mana arrows while Margaret dispatched the close orcs with her Lightning Blade.

The villagers clashed with the remaining orcs, each swinging their weapons at the nearly naked orcs. Though mostly comprised of ordinary women, the militia proved better than Jeongjae had expected, managing to fight spirit and push the enemies into the ocean without anyone getting hurt.

The Captain of the Guard, Philip, delivered a final kick that sent the last orc plummeting into the sea, effectively clearing the beach of all monsters. The Kraken, already retreating about twenty meters from the shore, began thrashing its tentacles in a final act of rebellion, but soon realized it was all in vain and submerged into the depths.

Jeongjae, who had been anxiously watching for any sign of the Kraken’s final strike, confirmed the current of the waves pulling away to the north and finally believed in their victory, raising both hands triumphantly.

The villagers raised their weapons to the sky and cheered wildly, while Jenis excitedly flailed Jeongjae’s robe in happiness. Margaret breathed a sigh of relief, her face reflecting a sense of release.

This was the conclusion of the first battle Jeongjae had led as lord with autonomous command—the defense of Harriet’s Territory.