Chapter 8: Dilemma
Liselotte stepped out of the carriage after Hiroaki and Flora and immediately chanted a spell to block the throwing stones. “Magicae Murum.”
Then, she looked around herself fearfully. It was, in a word, a battlefield. They were surrounded by an overwhelming number of monsters in all directions, and the knights were putting themselves on the line to block their approach.
What... is this? Are you telling me that this many monsters were lurking in the forest...? Liselotte’s eyes widened with shock, but she soon snapped back to her senses with a gasp.
“Princess Flora, this way. Keep yourself low to the ground.” She pulled Flora by the hand and led her out of the carriage. At the same time, she looked up in the air, but there were no monsters to launch an attack from above.
“O-Okay,” Flora said in a scared manner, stepping down from the carriage.
Liselotte kept her posture low as she held her magic barrier over her head, searching for the sight of Hiroaki and Roanna nearby. The hero is... Over there! She quickly spotted the two of them crouched right next to the carriage. Roanna had a magic barrier up, protecting them from the stones.
Hiroaki spotted Liselotte and Flora and called out to them with a fearful face. “H-Hey! You guys came out too!” However, the commotion around them was so noisy, it drowned him out.
Once Liselotte had gotten close enough to Hiroaki, she let out a sigh of relief. “I’m glad to see you safe.” Even if he was annoying, it’d be a problem if he died.
“Safe... What part of this makes you think I’m safe?! Can we even win?!” Exposed to the chaotic air of the battleground, Hiroaki had completely lost his wits.
Repulsive monsters that had shapes similar to humans were trying to kill them. Their eyes were filled with madness as they looked upon him, roaring as they closed in.
On the other hand, the eyes of the knights engaging the monsters weren’t normal, either. They glared at the monsters with clear murderous intent and were yelling at the tops of their lungs.
“...As amateurs, as people who are being protected, that isn’t for us to decide. However, as far as I can see, our battle formation has settled nicely, so let’s pray that they will be able to hold out.” Liselotte didn’t say anything to unnecessarily raise their hopes.
“Oi oi, what is this? Just what is this crazy-ass world? The hero with the godly weapon should be the one to fight triumphantly in his first battle. Nobody wants to see such an unfavorable outcome,” Hiroaki began to mutter to himself. Even if he had a power that set him aside from normal people as a hero, he had completely lost in mentality. For a human that was complacent with peace, who had never killed an animal, much less a human, this wasn’t the stage for him to fight triumphantly. Hiroaki acutely lacked the resolution and desperation.
Liselotte took a short breath and addressed Roanna. She no longer had the time to deal with Hiroaki. “Lady Roanna, Princess Flora. Could you go inside of the barrier, please? I must go tend to the wounded with magic.”
“...Of course. I am forever grateful for your assistance.” Roanna bowed her head deeply with a shameful expression. All of those who had fallen were knights of the Kingdom of Beltrum, which must have been weighing on her mind.
“I shall see you later, then.” With those words, Liselotte made to leave.
“O-Oi, wait, Liselotte! Where are you going?! It’s dangerous!” Hiroaki snapped back to his senses and called out to Liselotte.
“Just over there. I am going to aid the wounded,” Liselotte replied without turning back, continuing to move as she had been.
“Don’t! Come back! What happens if you get caught up in something dangerous, too?! That’s what always happens for dramatic twists in stories! Damn it!” Hiroaki yelled after her, but Liselotte did not stop. She made her way to a wounded knight lying behind the row of shields braced on the sides.
“Are you okay? Can you hear me?” she asked him, checking to see if he was conscious.
“Ugh...” The knight didn’t give a clear response — it seemed as though one of the initial stones had hit him in the head. He was weary from the amount of bloodshed.
It doesn’t look like he’ll be able to rejoin the battle even after I heal him. I must hurry... There was another knight that was severely wounded, unable to move with a broken leg. That one was conscious, so this one was the higher priority.
Liselotte chanted the spell and began to heal him. “Cura.” She placed her hand over the wound and a magic circle appeared, emitting healing light. As she continued healing, Aria passed by, eyes wide.
“My Lady! Why are you here?!”
The sight of her standing there, holding a sword and without a single smudge on her uniform, made her stand out the most. And yet, it suited her perfectly; there was no one more reliable than Liselotte.
“Treating the wounded. Something really heavy fell from above and dented the roof of the carriage. But more importantly, what’s the current situation?”
Aria looked like she wanted to say something else, but sighed as she explained instead. “...The defense on the sides and rear is being driven back. I’ve cleaned up most of the monsters at the front, so I’m leaving the rest to the other girls and heading round back to support them there.”
“I see. Go and clean it up quickly, then. I’m counting on you,” Liselotte said, smiling innocently.
Aria’s mouth twitched with a smile as she let out a huff of laughter. “...Understood. I will return shortly.” She bowed before heading off at a near inhuman speed, going straight for the struggling rear of the formation.
All right, I have to do what I can too... Liselotte fired herself up once more and kept up her healing efforts.
? ?
Meanwhile, in the skies above, Reiss was observing the battlefield. “Fufu, so she stepped around to the back.”
So far, everything that had taken place until now was exactly as he wanted. Once he confirmed that Aria had gone to support the rear of the party, he descended into the forest.
“Now, it’s time for me to bring out my secret weapon.” Reiss’ mouth twisted into a devil-like sneer.
? ?
Aria ran to the rear of the party to support Raymond in cleaning up the monsters there. With Aria stepping forward ahead of the others, the defense line was instantly improved.
“How awe-inspiring...” Raymond found himself captivated by the sight of Aria swinging her sword in the front line.
She lightly evaded the attacks of the monsters coming at her from every direction and meticulously sliced off their heads. Her movements were like that of a graceful petal fluttering in the wind, but the number of monsters was decreasing at a fearsome rate.
“Is that the power of the enchanted sword? No, that’s her own power...” Raymond felt conflicted. The fragile woman who was several years younger than him and who he was meant to be escorting Liselotte was stronger than anyone else present.
She’s nothing like the little girl I used to know. I did hear that her swordcraft had excellent results in the academy, but... She’s an actual genius.
He had never imagined she’d be this good. In the time it took Raymond to take out on orc, Aria would have eliminated nearly ten goblins and orcs.
She may even be fitting to be the King’s Sword. Raymond was certain of it.
Aria moved back to speak to Raymond plainly. “With this number of monsters, I should be able to handle this side by myself as well. Could you go around to the front and sides to assist them?”
“This side as well...? But, well... I see...” Raymond gulped in shock but soon understood the circumstances — Aria had probably eliminated the monsters to the front by herself as well. However, his pride as a knight felt ashamed at relying on a woman in this situation, so he was at a loss for how to respond.
“Is something the matter?” Aria asked, her tone no different to an everyday conversation.
“No... You’re right. I’ll leave this...” Conflicted, Raymond was about to nod, when —
“GRAAAARGH!” Several terrible roars echoed about their surroundings.
“What was that?! Wha...” Raymond looked towards the direction of the roar in a panic, then was rendered speechless with shock. On the road at the rear of their party, towering behind the approaching monsters, were grotesque monsters that were humanoid in shape yet quite clearly not human. The strange looking monsters were called revenants. Previously, when Rio lived in the stone house in the outskirts of Amande, these unidentified monsters had been drawn to the magic essence of his barrier and attacked.
“W-Was that always there? Is that a monster too?!” Raymond yelled. Other monsters were also swarming out of the woods.
“I don’t know. One, two, three... a dozen in total, I see.” Aria counted the number of revenants calmly. Three were black and nine were gray.
It may be best to assume the difference in colors means something. My Lady is... no, the other attendants can tend to her. It would be bad if I left my position and allowed them to pass here. I’m not sure how strong they are, but I must finish them off as quickly as possible.
Aria hesitated when she thought about Liselotte, but she soon resolved herself to her self-assigned role. “There is no difference in what we must do. I assume the newly appeared humanoid monsters are enemies, so I will move to deal with them. If it seems like I can handle them alone, then everyone may move to support the others.” With that, she rushed forth into the fray once more.
“MROOOOH!” This time, an even greater roar came from the forest, making Aria freeze in her steps. The sound waves reverberated through the air, loud enough to shake the trees.
“...What now?” Aria sighed, irritated. The ground immediately rumbled with a thump, thump, thump.
“MROOOOH!” Behind the revenants on the road and from the forests to the side, three giant minotaurs with jet black bull heads appeared.
“Wha...” Their large bodies wielded stone greatswords, rendering everyone speechless.
“...Nothing about our approach changes.” Aria ran towards their new enemies before anyone else.
? ?
Meanwhile, Liselotte was able to hear the yells of the revenants from within the middle of the formation. After she heard the roars of the minotaurs, she trembled as she witnessed their ferocious appearance from the forest.
You’ve got to be kidding me... Liselotte froze in the middle of healing a wounded knight — her gaze was locked on the minotaur towering over the front of their party formation. Its body was over four meters tall, making it easy to see even from Liselotte’s position at the center of the formation. For a savage monster of that enormous size to be lurking so close to Amande — along with a swarm of so many monsters — was a situation she had never even imagined.
“I-Isn’t that... the same thing from back then...?!” Roanna said beside Liselotte.
“Lady Roanna, do you know that monster?!” Liselotte shouted.
“I-It’s a minotaur! A legendary monster that wrecked havoc during the Divine War!” Roanna screamed in reply, her voice filled with fear. Beside her, Hiroaki was silent with shock, whereas Flora was shaking heavily.
Their reactions weren’t surprising; Flora and Roanna had once been attacked and chased by the same monster when they were in the Academy, an experience that had been traumatic for their younger selves. At the time, they hadn’t stood a chance as students going against the monster, but they couldn’t win as adults, either.
For the calm and composed Lady Roanna to be so shaken... It must be bad. Liselotte’s heart thudded violently in her chest like someone had grabbed it and squeezed. Honestly, she wanted to flee as fast as she could, but there was nowhere to run.
“Oi oi, it’s over...” Hiroaki muttered.
“Kyaaah?!” The earth rumbled fiercely from very close range to Liselotte and the others, blowing sand into the air with wind pressure. Flora couldn’t hold back her scream. When she opened her eyes a bit, a new minotaur stood before them.
“Wha... Where did it...”
It leapt out of the forest to the side of the road and soared over the heads of the knights with their shields braced, landing next to the carriage Liselotte and the others had been on — right in the middle of the formation. A stone greatsword was clutched in its hand.
“Ha... Haha... There’s more there.” Hiroaki’s knees gave out as he pointed at the road in front of their formation. There were two minotaurs holding similar swords; that brought the total to four.
“Hrrgh.” The minotaur right beside them looked down at Liselotte and the others and gave a repulsive sneer.
Flora and Roanna let out a scared “Eek,” their voices barely audible. The knights on the side turned to face inwards from the road, holding their shields up fearfully.
“...” Liselotte stirred slightly, then gulped. It was commendable how she didn’t scream.
The minotaur before her raised its stone sword with great strength. “O-Oh no...” It slashed its greatsword once, diagonally from bottom right to upper left, sending the carriage Liselotte’s group had been on flying off into the forest, along with the horse.
Fortunately, the swing missed Hiroaki and the others, leaving them unscathed. Part of the carriage splintered off and flew into the shielded knights, sending bodies flying.
“Guh...” The defense line that was painstakingly constructed crumbled to pieces. In the forest, the attendants were still fighting with the monsters.
“Gufuhuh... Fuh?!” The minotaur laughed heartily, this time swinging its sword vertically upwards. But then, as though in fear of something, it froze on the spot. After a moment, it sluggishly drew its opposite hand out, reaching for Liselotte.
“N-No...” Liselotte wanted to dive to the side at once, but her legs had given out and her body was momentarily paralyzed, unable to move.
“Lady Liselotte?!” Attendants worried for Liselotte’s safety called out to her from the forests to the side. However, at some point, the revenants had joined the swarms of monsters at the side forests, attacking the girls.
“Lady Liselotte!” This time, another young girl’s voice rang out — it was Chloe’s. Thanks to her position towards the inside of the road, she had gotten away from being attacked by the revenants. Chloe leaped to catch Liselotte’s body and avoided the minotaur’s hand closing in at the very last minute.
“Kyah! Chloe?!” Liselotte screamed as they hit the ground rolling.
“A-Are you all right, Lady Liselotte?!” Chloe called out to her.
“Yes, th-thanks... I’m fine, but...” The danger hadn’t been resolved yet. The minotaur pulled back the arm that had swung and missed, this time reaching to grab Chloe and Liselotte instead. Its movement was faster and rougher than before, possibly out of irritation at being foiled once.
“!” Chloe clung to Liselotte desperately in an attempt to protect her master. However, the minotaur’s evil grasp was closing in nearer by the second. Liselotte and Chloe’s expressions both froze.
This was the end. Everyone was in agony, until... “...?!” A gust of wind blasted past Liselotte, almost as though a jet black flash had passed by.
Immediately after, that black flash charged straight into the minotaur’s gigantic body with a tremendous noise of impact. No sooner had that happened than the minotaur’s stone sword wielding right hand was detached. Severed.
The black flash had sliced it off.
With no strength remaining in the minotaur’s grip, the stone sword was sent flying high through the air.
“MROOH...?!” The black flash’s astoundingly fast movement came to a screeching halt by kicking the minotaur’s body as a brake. He leapt into the air, twisting his body to catch the minotaur’s greatsword as it soared through the air. Liselotte’s heart, meanwhile, was captivated by the beautiful series of movements.
There, in the air, was a gray-haired boy clad in a pitch-black coat. He looked to be around Liselotte’s age.
“Grugh...?” The minotaur was unable to process what had happened, stumbling heavily backwards, then collapsing onto its back, facing upwards.
“Hah!” The gray-haired boy in the jet black coat swung the stone sword he had grabbed downwards, sending it hurtling towards the minotaur at an incredible speed.
The thick stone sword easily pierced through the body of its original owner. “AARH, GARRGH?!” The minotaur lay skewered into the ground, roaring in agony.
One beat later, the boy landed smoothly on the handle of the stone sword. In his right hand was a valuable sword embedded with beautiful jade gemstones.
Liselotte gazed up at that boy in a daze.
“Allow me to assist,” the gray-haired boy said in a youthful voice fitting for his age.
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