I spent a few moments breathing in the wonderful air that wasn’t too humid; it was just right. The air was already quite cold, but I like it that way. It was also wonderful to once again be aware of everything around me. However, I stopped admiring the beauty of this land and focused on the upcoming battlefield. It was past the goblin lands, near an outpost around the first-rank dungeon. I still had some time, but just in case, I thought I should start moving.

"Yes, I already know about that," I told the lieutenant who rushed here to report about the upcoming fight. "I will move out immediately. Everyone else, back to your posts." At my command, every legionary began to move.

It wasn't hard to find my way out, and now I could run on a properly built road. The bridge over the river was also wonderfully made, and I was quite certain it could handle an incredible load. There weren’t any goblin guards, but that was because some of them were assisting with the current defense of the outpost.

It seems that over the past two months, the relationship between the goblins and my nation has improved significantly. I guess fighting and working together does help strengthen relationships. I deliberately bypassed the goblin village; I wanted to reach my destination as quickly as possible without alerting them to my approach.

While I could go there and take command, this was the perfect opportunity for others to learn. The main reason I wanted to arrive quickly was to prevent possible major mistakes before they occurred and to provide everyone with my boost, which would make the fight easier.

Beyond the goblin village, the road quickly turned from a properly paved one into a dirt path, but for my current needs, it was absolutely sufficient. When I reached the swamp, I actually stopped. There was a temporary wooden bridge built over the river that connected the forest and swamp, but beyond that was something that must have taken a lot of magic, abilities, or possibly both.

They were filling in and raising the area where the future road would be. We had talked about what we might do here, but before I left, nothing was decided. I would be quite interested to hear what their plan and execution looked like.

Just in case, I didn’t use the half built road to go further into the swamp. Instead, I moved as I did the last time, jumping over the water and using the dry parts to advance inward. The outpost wasn’t anything special. It currently looked like a wooden fort with a few watchtowers, but I could imagine it in the future becoming quite a large town. The walls themselves, unfortunately, wouldn’t help against the fight that was going to happen, so currently, the United Freeholds had set up a defensive area further from the fort.

There were about 800 Legionnaires, 400 goblins and nearly 200 Vikings against a few thousand flightless birds that used to inhabit this swamp but were driven out by the salamanders. Now, it seems that they have found themselves a leader who wants to claim the area that the fort currently occupies.

I'm guessing that this is going to be a problem even in the future because the dungeon is emitting energy that is of a higher rank than the surroundings, which would make it a desirable area for any powerful beast or monster.

Fortunately, the flightless birds, approximately 1 metre in height, aren't much of a problem. In fact, it would be quite beneficial if they re-inhabit the area for hunting and restarting the ecosystem. The issue is that they have a beast or monster controlling them, and a few thousand of these birds can inflict significant damage, even to stronger beings like the citizens of the United Freeholds and the goblins who also inhabit the outpost.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Currently, I don't know their exact plans, but from the positioning of the troops, I can make an educated guess, and it's not a bad strategy. I just hope they plan on sending elite teams to find and eliminate the leader because that would most likely end the conflict.

I was relieved that we weren't facing anything too perilous. If I had to estimate, I was probably operating at only about 10 to 15% of my combat power at this moment. The hydra fight had drained me, but just recalling it brought a smile to my face.

I chose a decent hill a bit away from the upcoming battle and camouflaged myself as best as possible, to simply observe. Using my ability, which allowed me to see everything even clearer than with powerful binoculars, I was also reminded that there wouldn't be any telltale glint from glass to give away my position. Being a sneaky long-range fighter certainly has its advantages in this world.

It took a few hours, but I liked that, while still preparing, the soldiers didn't do anything too strenuous that would harm their combat ability. Everyone seemed to have high morale, although the newer troops were understandably a bit nervous.

Their anxiety heightened when the noise of the approaching bird horde became audible to all. The oncoming birds seemed impressively adept at traversing the swampy land, which made sense as it was their natural environment, making it an awe-inspiring sight as thousands charged towards the legion's lines at top speed.

I integrated my commander ability into the current command structure that the soldiers were using. There were only a few low-level abilities helping to boost and communicate, but instantly, my ability transformed the entire command structure, making it run better than the best systems back on Earth.

Immediately, I could hear chatter; everyone was surprised and thrilled that I had returned. However, I couldn't have people be distracted so close to the battle. "Everyone, focus up and continue with your current orders. I am only here to provide support in the form of enhanced boosts; the rest is up to you."

My words silenced all communication, but quickly the commanders leading this fight acknowledged what I said, and the soldiers readied themselves once again. This time, I was channeling my energy into my abilities, which in turn enhanced the defensive and offensive power of everyone connected. This was straining, but some pain and a longer recovery period were minor compared to the lives of my soldiers.

Given the speed at which the birds were moving, it didn't take long for the first ones to reach the shields. Even before that, many fell to the traps set by the Legionnaires or the javelins of the goblins.

The birds didn’t charge in one group; they were quite spread out. So, at first, they didn’t pose any problems, but as more of them reached the troops, they began jumping onto one another or even using their small wings to fly just a bit, trying to get over the first wall of shields. The Legionnaires, however, were prepared, and shields and spears awaited any bird that made it over the first row of troops.

Quite a lot of arrows and bolts were used to kill any bird that managed to get on top of the formation, and soon it became a problem as too many corpses started to weigh down the shields that protected the heads of the Legionnaires.

I heard orders being given, and slowly the shields started to move like a wave, pushing the dead birds backward and eventually off the shields. It was a lot of physical work, but they had been training for quite a while and all had plenty of levels under them.

However, they won’t be able to keep this up forever. This is why a little while ago, I noticed that groups of Vikings started moving to the sides of the bird horde, trying to keep them contained. This also allowed elite fighters to get behind the bird horde and start to find the leader that was in charge and causing the birds to act like this.

Time went by, and I was quite glad that I was able to make it here; otherwise, they would have been a lot more exhausted, and there already might have been deaths on our side. Currently, the soldiers who had been wounded were pulled out of the fighting, but if the elite fighters took too long, the frontline would need to keep fighting even while wounded, likely leading to many deaths.

Time marched forward and soldiers who were wounded had to stay on the frontline. Luckily, the elite fighters had finally found their prey. The light show was immaculate, although brief. The first-rank monster couldn't withstand six first-rank elite fighters for long. As soon as the bird was defeated, the rest of the horde paused for a moment. Then, they began to act like normal birds, scattering in every direction to escape the intimidating creatures nearby.

I must say, this was one of the quickest battle conclusions I've witnessed. After the leadership was defeated, the rest fled within two minutes, leaving behind only their fallen comrades and many wounded soldiers. Healing magic managed to keep the most severely injured alive, but I still offered as much assistance as I could. Afterwards, I left the rest to the other commanders and set out, hoping to sleep in my own bed that night.