"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."
Hinata rode a white horse at the front of the army.
But very quickly, she sensed something strange, an unusual sense of incongruity.
"Is it a spell meant to confuse the senses?"
Hinata instantly saw through Treyni's interference. "It's just... something feels off."
Regardless, trying to stop her with such a petty trick was just a pipe dream.
"Child's play."
Hinata's gaze narrowed, and an invisible mental force instantly spread outward, enveloping the entire army and blocking Treyni's illusion.
"So powerful..."
Feeling Hinata's magical energy, Treyni—who was beside Artoria—showed an expression of appreciation. "So this is the strength of the Holy Church's strongest saint?"
As the first True Demon Lord-level being to step into the Jura Great Forest, Treyni's power had little effect on Hinata.
And with Hinata present, Treyni could no longer interfere with the judgment of the Holy Knights.
This allowed the allied army to advance smoothly. They quickly crossed several forests, approaching their pre-determined encampment.
"What should we do?"
Treyni looked at Artoria, a bit troubled. "With Hinata here, I can't split their forces."
"Is that so?"
"Forget it. Just tell her I'm here."
Artoria's answer was simple and direct. She didn't bother to hide her intent.
If you want to fight, then fight.
Schemes and tricks were an insult to a strong person like Hinata, and to Artoria herself.
The idea of splitting the two armies was initially to spare the Holy Knights.
But now that Hinata was here, and stealth wasn't an option, Artoria wouldn't push it.
She looked up, her calm emerald eyes focused forward.
And there, right ahead, was where Hinata was.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Hinata looked up, her gaze locking onto a specific direction. "This feeling..."
"Everyone halt!"
"Stop!"
Leonard looked at the Holy Knights, who followed the order without hesitation, and asked, "What's wrong, Captain? Did something happen?"
"..."
Hinata didn't answer right away. She glanced at the formation behind her and found that the entire army had already entered the forest.
Hinata wasn't concerned with the Kingdom of Falmuth's 50,000-strong army.
In this war, the Kingdom of Falmuth clearly just wanted to slack off and claim credit.
Also, when they first entered the forest, Hinata had already assessed the enemy's level.
True Demon Lord.
The opponent was definitely a True Demon Lord-level existence.
And against such a formidable enemy, charging in with 50,000 troops would just be sending them to die.
Compared to direct confrontation, the role of the Kingdom of Falmuth's army was to clean up the monsters in the western region of the forest after Hinata defeated the True Demon Lord.
But now, an unexpected situation had arisen.
"That direction?"
At first, Hinata was puzzled, unsure of the other party's intent. "Hmph, provoking me?"
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Hinata was never the indecisive type.
Without much hesitation, she locked onto the direction.
"What is that place?"
Hinata asked Leonard beside her, who quickly pulled out a map to check. "In about 20 more minutes, we'll reach Green Shade Plain, which is also our pre-determined encampment."
"Waiting for me there?"
To Hinata, Artoria's intent was clear. She didn't want them to rest.
Once they crossed the forest, it was highly likely they'd see the enemy's formation.
Which meant, next would be a bloody and brutal battle.
"It seems the enemy is quite confident in their strength."
Hearing that the enemy had already marked their position ahead of time, Leonard's face darkened. "Mere monsters, to be so arrogant..."
They had long suspected the identity of the mastermind behind the Jura Great Forest's chaos.
The most likely explanation was that it was a monster who appeared out of nowhere.
But for the opponent to look down on the Holy Knights this much, to not even put them in their eyes, made Leonard furious.
"Calm down, Leonard."
Hinata sent Arno of the Sky to inform the Kingdom of Falmuth's army and their king not to act recklessly.
"Let's go. We'll check it out."
"Captain?!"
"The other side has already issued the invitation," Hinata said. "And the location is the encampment we picked ahead of time."
The monsters were lying in wait without hiding. This was an open provocation, and also a geographical advantage.
Now, Hinata wanted to see for herself just what kind of existence the mastermind behind all this really was.
"Yes!"
Leonard no longer tried to dissuade her, but still brought along the three saints of Earth, Water, and Wind.
Soon, the four of them, led by Hinata, exited the forest.
Sunlight once again shone on them, and on the lush green plain, small animals could even be seen nibbling grass, as if there were no signs of war at all.
"What is this, what's going on?"
Litus was baffled. Hadn't it been said that the enemy had already deployed, just waiting for them?
But no matter how she looked, there didn't seem to be any enemies at all.
"Is it an illusion?"
"How is that possible?"
Fritz of the Wind said speechlessly, "What kind of illusion could be this convincing?"
"It's not an illusion."
Hinata's expression remained calm, and she had already spotted the reason for their arrival.
It was a woman.
Clad in blue and white armor, her golden hair billowed in the wind. She stood quietly on the grassland several kilometers away from the five of them, as if she had been waiting there for a long time.
"A human?!"
Like Razen, the four saints' first reaction upon seeing Artoria was to assume she was human.
"She... she's a human, right?"
"There's absolutely no monster aura on her."
"No, it's not just that. On the contrary, on the contrary..."
How to describe the feeling Artoria gave off?
Holy?
Yes, holy.
Like an unsullied saint, or a goddess descended from the heavens.
If such a woman was a monster, then what were they, humans?
"So strong..."
Hinata stared. The more she looked at Artoria, the harder it was to suppress the fighting spirit and excitement burning in her heart.
Powerful. Incredibly powerful.
The knight standing before her was undoubtedly the strongest opponent Hinata had ever encountered in her life.
Even Luminous, who had once overwhelmed her completely, did not feel as dangerous as her.
(To be continued.)