Chapter 7: Another Attack
The next morning, at a time before the sun had risen and the sky was dyed a lapis blue, when the earth was just starting to illuminate with the coming dawn, Aishia visited Rio’s bedroom to try and wake up him.
“Haruto, wake up.”
“...Aishia? Good morning.” Rio immediately opened his eyes, but his expression was still half asleep as he replied.
“Good morning. It’s an emergency,” Aishia said in a flat voice.
“What happened?” Rio asked with a serious look.
“Monsters suddenly appeared.”
“...Inside or outside the city?”
“Don’t know their exact position. But they’re to the west. Their presence is jumbled up, so there’s probably a lot of them. I should have noticed a presence this strong much earlier, but I couldn’t tell,” Aishia said in a rare display of worry.
“...I understand.” Rio got out of bed and patted Aishia on the shoulder. “For now, let’s get a clearer understanding of the situation. Where’s the professor?” he asked in a calm voice.
“Still sleeping.” Aishia stared at Rio’s face as she replied. Immediately after, the emergency bells of the city started ringing, echoing from the city’s gate.
A beat later, the familiar sound of a monster’s roar resonated loudly through the air.
“MROOOOOOOH!”
Earlier that day, at the lookout post of Amande’s western gate...
“Aaaah...” a soldier yawned loudly.
“It’s still too early for the next shift to arrive. Pull yourself together — we’re on high alert right now,” his superior, who was on guard with him, scolded him in a harsher voice than usual.
Presently, Amande had strengthened its guard due to certain unforeseen circumstances, making shifts more frequent and increasing the number of soldiers at the east and west gates. A large number of soldiers had been assigned in particular to the west gate, which was where the huge number of monsters had spawned in the forest.
Incidentally, the northern section of Amande was a lake — their main water source — so there was no entrance there. Furthermore, the formerly small city of Amande had rapidly developed into this large city in the last few years, and they were still in the middle of clearing forests for more expansion. With the expansion of the city came allocating the metro areas, so the farmlands that had once been scattered between the east and west were now allocated to the cleared lands to the south.
The outermost walls of the city were not made of stone like castle walls, but logs that could be moved every time expansion occurred.
“Yes sir.” The soldier who yawned pulled himself together and nodded. He must have felt pride for his job in protecting Amande, as his face was quite serious.
Suddenly, another soldier on the lookout spotted a figure in the distance. “Hey! Is there someone on the road?!”
“A person? At this hour?” The superior rubbed his eyes in doubt.
“There’s a lot of them. How many people is that?” Another soldier next to them spoke up quickly. The gate was lit by fire torches, but the surroundings were still dim and their visions were obscured by the fog. It was unthinkable to be walking along the forest road at this hour to begin with; though there was a path, the forests were pitch black at night. On top of being unable to perceive even the shortest distance, there was also the danger of roaming nocturnal beasts. Even the city’s gates were firmly shut until morning came.
“Come to think of it, we received a message that the foreign knights that went to investigate the forest might return. Oh, but the message warned that unidentified monsters could also appear...” the superior recalled with a dubious face. In that time, the figures gradually drew nearer.
“Uuuh...” Dozens of revenants appeared with an eerie groan. There were gray-skinned ones scattered between darker gray ones, but it was hard to tell them apart in the dim lighting.
From their hairless heads, expressions of sinister madness, and completely naked bodies, it was clear they were not human.
“I-It’s the unidentified monsters! Sound the alarm!” The superior ordered a nearby soldier in shock.
“Y-Yes sir!” The ordered soldier replied in a fluster, ringing the bells of the lookout post at a fixed rhythm. The sound of the bells echoed loudly through the quiet city.
“Geehehehe!” A large army of goblins and orcs leapt out of the forest all at once.
“We’re stopping them here, everyone! Don’t let them inside the gate!” the superior yelled with determination at the shoulders, obviously conscious of the worst-case scenario.
“Right!” The soldiers nodded firmly. However, a ferocious monster’s roar echoed loudly from the back of the road.
“MROOOOOOOOOH!”
The soldiers trembled at the sound. “?!”
“D-Don’t tell me...” A bad feeling came over the superior, making him grimace. He recalled the message and how it said there was one more type of monster other than the unidentified revenants.
They were called minotaurs — monsters that had rampaged with fury during the Divine War. One moment later, a thump, thump, thump shook the ground.
“I-It’s coming!” the superior yelled.
“MROOH!” From the depths of the foggy road appeared the minotaur. The monsters packed on the road moved to the sides to allow it to pass.
“I-It’s huge!” The lookout post the soldiers were standing on was ten meters above the ground, but the minotaur still looked huge when they looked down on it. It was easily four meters tall.
Suddenly, the minotaur took a running leap.
“Ah...!” The soldiers were momentarily at eye level with it, and their jaws dropped in shock. The minotaur swung its stone greatsword down with force.
“I-It’s going to break the gate! Retreat!” The very moment the superior yelled aloud, the city gate was destroyed by the stone sword. The foundation was crushed into pieces, sending the lookout post on top crumbling to the ground.
“Tch. Prepare for impact! Combat begins as soon as we reach the ground!” The superior barely managed to yell.
“Gufufufu.” The minotaur gazed upon the ruins of the gate it destroyed and let its mouth widen into a smile filled with dominance.
It looks like we’ve succeeded in obtaining an entry route without issue. All that’s left is to spread the combat as far as possible and draw out their power. The east gate is next. Reiss was hidden among the monsters in the forest, quietly observing the minotaur and the surrounding situation. He sighed quietly, before gently floating into the air.
But the problem will be that humanoid spirit and its contractee. We’ll have to adapt to their movements, but if the spirit is materialized, it will be easy enough to locate. For now, we should take this chance to open the east gate. There shouldn’t be as many soldiers placed over there, Reiss thought as he moved swiftly towards the east gate.
Elsewhere, Rio took Aishia out of his bedroom and through the living room, continuing quickly towards the bedroom where Celia was sleeping... only to have Celia burst out of the room in a panic.
“Rio, Aishia, are you there?!” It seemed like the commotion outside had woken her up.
“Professor.”
“Rio, Aishia — thank goodness...!” Celia sighed in relief, hugging Rio tightly. When she’d startled awake, the bed that Aishia was supposed to be sleeping in was empty. She’d probably been worried.
“It’s all right. There’s no need to worry,” Rio said, gently hugging Celia.
“Y-Yeah...” Celia buried her face into Rio’s chest, nodding hesitantly.
Once Rio confirmed that Celia had calmed down, he explained the circumstances. “It seems like a large number of monsters have spawned, either inside or outside the city. There are probably minotaurs too.”
Celia stared at Rio’s face. “...What will you do?” she asked nervously.
“Let’s see...” Rio mumbled as he pondered to himself.
He was merely an outsider, and it was Liselotte’s duty to protect the city of Amande. As this land was Liselotte’s home base, she surely had enough military strength under her name, unlike when they were attacked on the road. While the minotaurs would be tough, it was possible to drive them away with a large number of people equal in strength to a knight.
However, he couldn’t take an optimistic approach without more information. If the number of monsters surpassed that of the city’s defense, the worst-case scenario could surely occur.
It’s not that I’m obligated to protect Amande, but I can’t have Liselotte falling here... And I can’t expose the professor to danger, either, Rio thought, organizing his motives and the situation at hand. If he was only thinking about fleeing, then he could just fly out of the city with spirit arts. It was undesirable to use spirit arts in front of others, but he could explain away his most often-used wind spirit arts as a product of his wind elemental enchanted sword.
However, it wouldn’t look very good to Liselotte if she later found out that the first thing they did was flee to safety by themselves. Not to mention that if Amande was destroyed here, the favorable relationship he had been building with Liselotte would cease. If possible, Rio wanted to avoid that. Which meant —
I need more information first. My final decision can come after that.
Either way, rushing into action was both reckless and irresponsible. As long as it wasn’t a life-threatening dilemma where it would be better to flee without a second thought, it was the perfect chance to further make Liselotte indebted to him.
“Hey, Rio. You don’t have to worry about me. I know I’m the biggest hindrance out of us, but I can also fight a bit if I can use magic. That’s why... umm. You should choose the action that’s best for you.” Celia sensed that Rio’s expression was serious and spoke with hesitation. Her eyes showed a glimpse of her firm intention to follow Rio — no matter what.
“...Okay.” Rio nodded with an indescribable feeling. “Then let’s get changed first, so we can move around easily,” he suggested with his usual smile to reassure Celia.
After Rio finished changing from his sleepwear into his black wyvern combat clothes, he headed to the inn’s back garden alone. The inn employees and guests had noticed the commotion some time ago, but their attention was drawn to the entrance facing the square, so there was no one in the back garden. Rio took advantage of this and rose into the air, then looked down on the west side of the city from above. From the sky, the ground below looked rather dim.
The gate’s been destroyed... There must be a lot of monsters.
Rio took note of the situation. The square at the western gate that would normally be overflowing with stalls and customers was currently surging with a stream of goblins and orcs. The minotaurs and revenants brought up the rear, but they were still observing from afar. On the other hand...
The city’s reaction is also swift.
Soldiers and adventurers were already gathering at the entrance of the road leading to the west gate and assuming battle formations. They were forming an improvised defense line to prevent the monsters from invading further; it was possible that personnel had been placed at the west gate in advance as a precaution.
Further, the square near the gate was apparently designed with the intention of inviting external enemies in and blocking them off. As long as the road into the city was defended, the remaining buildings would act as a barricade preventing invasion. Even if a large number of monsters pushed past the mouth of the road, the width limitations meant the number of monsters within reach would decrease. Thankfully, it appeared as though they would be able to hold the fort. During that time, the residents along the road would evacuate towards the center of the city.
Reinforcements are arriving one after another. It looks like this’ll be... — Rio thought, determining the status of the west gate, when Aishia’s telepathy echoed inside Rio’s head.
Haruto, lots of monsters just spawned at the east gate.
East? Rio turned on the spot and looked to the east. There, swarms of monsters were appearing from the forest right before the east gate. The lookouts at the gate noticed the surprise attack and rang the bell in a hurry, but a new minotaur appeared, letting out a ferocious roar.
“MROOOOOH!”
It drowned out the sound of the warning bell, alerting the city of its own presence.
“MROGH!” The minotaur used its tremendous physical abilities to take a running leap, soaring over the heads of the goblins and orcs to arrive at the gate first. It then swung its stone greatsword down, smashing the gate into pieces.
“Guheehee!”
“Buhee! Buhee!”
Shortly after the attack from the minotaur, the goblins and orcs flowed past the creature, invading the city one after another.
...That’s a lot. How many are there in total? Roughly estimating, Rio would guess the number of monsters to the east and west easily surpassed one thousand.
And they were still appearing from the forests. The situation was gradually becoming worse.
Haruto, what do we do? Aishia asked.
Rio didn’t reply immediately, looking over the entire city instead. With the east and west gates breached, the only gate unharmed was to the south. The south gate faced wide, open farmlands, where there were still no signs of any monsters.
Meanwhile, the northern area where Liselotte’s mansion was located faced a lake, so there was no gate there at all. The area was also surrounded by tall and sturdy ramparts, able to be used as an evacuation area in an emergency. Judging by the movements of the citizens at the south, they were moving towards the north block.
For now, could you stay with the professor in the room and wait? It doesn’t seem like the monsters will reach the middle of the city anytime soon, and all the citizens from the west are relocating to the center. It looks like they’re evacuating to the north. Even if you went outside now, you wouldn’t be able to move, Rio directed Aishia calmly as he looked down at the ground. The square before the inn they were staying in was already crammed with residents coming from the west. If the eastern citizens started moving here too, then it would be safer to stay inside the inn.
...What will you do, Haruto? Aishia asked Rio again.
The defensive forces at the east gate are thin. I’ll go block them off. Presently, only a few lance-wielding soldiers were guarding the road facing the east gate square. Facing them were easily several hundred monsters, making them simply outnumbered.
They wouldn’t even last a minute, which meant the monsters had a chance of reaching the inn where Aishia and Celia were. But he could still make it in time.
Be careful.
Thank you. I won’t let the monsters reach you, but...
I know. Leave Celia to me, Aishia’s determined voice echoed.
Meanwhile, at the mouth of the road facing Amande’s east gate square, the soldiers protecting the area had completely lost their nerves.
“Eek! There’s too many of them!”
Several meters away, the army of goblins and orcs closed in.
“Fool! There are many citizens still evacuating behind us. For Lady Liselotte’s sake, too, protect this place with your life!” the supervisor in charge of the area yelled in motivation. They couldn’t afford to abandon their posts, as there were still huge crowds of residents evacuating behind them.
“That’s right! Let’s protect this spot with our lives! I’m alone, but I’m here as a reinforcement!” the youthful voice of a young girl yelled. It was Chloe. She had been the first one dispatched to check the situation on the east gate, where the defense was thinner, when the monsters suddenly attacked.
“L-Li’l Chloe!”
“Stop calling me that — I’m an adult!” Chloe replied with a bitter smile. She was a little conflicted about how people still called her “Li’l Chloe” and treated her like a child, having watched her grow up in Amande from a young age with her family’s inn.
“Sorry, Li’l Chloe. Having you here from the attendant team is most reassuring. We’re counting on you.”
“Geez, I already said...! No, there’s no time. I’ll use magic to intimidate the approaching monsters, so could everyone ready their lances and deal with the monsters that draw near?”
“L-Leave it to us!” the soldiers nodded, and the battle soon begun.
“Photon Projectilis!” Chloe held her hands out and chanted the spell. A magic circle immediately appeared, firing bullets of magic essence converted to energy bullets from within the circle.
“Gweh?!” The bullets of light blew the goblins away. It was a kind of magic that had enough force to knock out a human in a single blow, depending on where it landed — meaning a small-bodied goblin could easily be sent flying.
There’s so many of them! I hope the reinforcements come soon...
Panic soon showed on Chloe’s face; blowing away a handful of goblins wasn’t about to stop the advancing army of monsters. They closed the distance from her without reserve, confidence clear in their creepy smiles.
“Guheehee!” The giant orc acted as a wall for the goblins, drawing within meters of them. Unlike the child-sized goblins, orcs had the height of an adult human and thick skin that wouldn’t yield so easily to one shot of the photon bullet.
“...” Panicked, Chloe glanced behind her. There was no sign of the reinforcements, only the sight of the residents evacuating with only the clothes on their back.
The situation was hopeless. They wouldn’t even be able to last minutes like this.
“Geeeehhk?!” Suddenly, a strong gale blew from the diagonally left to the side, and all of the monsters right before Chloe’s eyes were easily blown away.
“Eh...?” Chloe found herself gazing in amazement. The other soldiers were also dumbfounded.
Just then, Rio landed lightly right in front of Chloe. “Allow me to assist you until your reinforcements arrive.”
“H-Haruto?! Ah, no — I mean, Sir Haruto!” Chloe stammered immediately.
“Chloe.” The attendant uniform she was wearing helped Rio immediately identify her.
“U-Umm, why are you here?” Chloe asked hesitantly.
“I figured the defense at the east gate would be thinner as it was attacked later, so I came as backup.”
“T-Thank you very much!” Rio’s simplistic answer filled Chloe with relief, and she thanked him from the bottom of her heart.
“Now, let’s reduce the number of monsters as much as possible before the reinforcements arrive. May I take the frontline?” Rio asked as he braced his sword and faced the monsters, who seemed to be wary of Rio and had frozen in place.
“Y-Yes, please do,” Chloe nodded with a squeak.
“Then, if everyone here could handle the monsters that make it to the street.” With those words, Rio calmly closed his distance with the monsters. Sending essence into the sword in his hand, he created a large gale of wind and fired it at the monsters.
“Guhee?!” Dozens of the monsters before him were pushed back to the gate, easily blown away. No sooner had he done that, Rio was charging into the group of monsters, initiating close-quarters-combat.
“J-Just what is that guy?” The soldiers muttered in a daze at the tremendous sight of Rio’s combat prowess, frozen in their awe.
Meanwhile, at the governor’s estate of Amande, Liselotte had set up a temporary command post in her garden to deal with the situation at hand.
“The citizens will be on edge from fear. Make sure their relocation into the inner city goes smoothly. And what was that new alarm and minotaur-like roar? I want more information,” Liselotte said to her subordinates. The attendant, Natalie, rushed to give her report with a pained expression.
“There was a message from the watchtower through the magic transmission device. It seems as though a large number of monsters have appeared at the east gate, accompanied by a minotaur. They seem to have broken in.” For the record, the watchtower was a tower built in the north district that oversaw all the areas of the city.
“W-What did you say?! How far have they gotten inside?” Liselotte asked for confirmation in a panic.
“We don’t have any details at present, but they had intercepted them at the square facing the east gate. But our people will be quite outnumbered, so I believe we must send reinforcements as soon as possible...”
“Even if we send the soldiers and adventurers in the rear guard, they’d be in danger of clashing with the citizens evacuating the other way. What about the attendants dispatched near the east gate?” All the attendants could either use magic or had magic artifacts with sorcery to enchant their physical abilities. If they were mobilized, they could move from one point to another quickly and smoothly.
“Most of the personnel have been dispatched to the west gate, so at present, it’s only Chloe. Cosette and the others should be in the center, assisting with the relocation of evacuating citizens...”
“Then I want you to head there right away. You can bring Cosette along with you when you pass her.”
Natalie nodded after a faint pause. “...Understood.” She hesitated was because the number of Liselotte’s own guards would be lowered without her.
Most of the other attendants besides Natalie were out right now, so there were barely any skilled fighters left. While there were still some attendants left, many of them were ill-suited in terms of fighting, making Natalie the most combat-experienced attendant remaining. However, the current situation required all skilled fighters out on the field, even if that left the mansion less guarded. Otherwise the threat of the front lines being broken through became more likely.
If the attack is as large as the one at the west gate, we’ll be lacking power even with me there. Cosette might not even be able to fill that gap... Natalie’s heart was torn.
“Duke Huguenot’s knights will stay here at the mansion, so you don’t need to worry about my protection. This should be the safest place in the city anyway, right? All you need to do is focus on your own mission. Now go on. Get out of here.” Liselotte seemed to see through Natalie’s woes and urged her to depart with haste.
“...Understood. Then... Augendae Corporis.” Natalie chanted the spell to enhance her physical abilities and ran off at full speed, leaving the estate. Not long after that, another attendant named Grace appeared.
“Lady Liselotte, a report.” Grace could fight too, but was remaining at the mansion for her rare healing magic.
“Go on.”
“A skilled swordsman appeared at the east gate square. He’s driving back the monsters alone.”
“...Sir Haruto?”
“Most likely.” Liselotte frowned apologetically. “...It seems like I owe him once again... But that’s a relief. Natalie’s on her way too, so the east gate should have enough manpower now,” she uttered, relieved at the appearance of reinforcements.
Inside the ramparts of Amande’s north area in an isolated back alley...
“Hahaha, to think it’d be so easy to sneak in. What a piece of cake,” Lucius said lightly. After sneaking into the north district amongst the evacuating residents, Lucius and Reiss had come here.
“Please refrain from speaking,” Reiss sighed tiredly.
“Don’t be so boring. I’ve already had to step away from such a fun-looking battlefield. You could at least keep me company in conversation.”
“Then let’s talk business. As soon as the minotaurs give the next signal, we’ll begin to move. Please be prepared to move at a moment’s notice.”
“Gotcha.” Lucius’ mouth twisted in a grin.
Now, the humanoid spirit’s aura has remained at the center of the city this entire time. And it’s about time for the back line to join the front lines... Reiss turned in the direction of the center block and narrowed his eyes.
A bit earlier, back at the square near the east gate...
“Amazing... that’s really amazing!”
Chloe was captivated by Rio’s fighting as she stood at the entrance of the road to the square. Rio was leaping around the square, taking on the crowd of monsters alone.
“Gyah?!”
“Buhee?!”
The goblins and orcs were being cut down as soon as they approached Rio; the speed with which he dealt with them was even faster than that of Aria fighting on the road during the last encounter.
“Hey hey, Li’l Chloe. Just who is that guy fighting over there?” One of the adventurers who had come running as backup asked in awe.
“That’s Sir Haruto — the one who saved Lady Liselotte. He’s a skilled swordsman,” Chloe replied without taking her eyes off the square. The person she had only met once, years ago, was freely swinging his sword about.
“That ain’t just a skilled one, that...”
Most of the monsters in the square were attacking Rio, making him a one-man army. He turned the tables on every monster that attacked, making the creatures in the square meet their end with swiftness. Every so often monsters would sneak past him towards the road, but those were easy for Chloe and the others to deal with.
“...We don’t need to help him?” the adventurer asked hesitantly. They could’ve drawn the attention of the monsters if they tried to assist recklessly, and there was no mistaking the fact they were hindrances to Rio, but the adventurer couldn’t help but ask anyway.
“...We can’t. The most we can do is get in his way. Blocking off the road here is a perfectly respectable role, and we’ll finish off the monsters that get past Sir Haruto,” Chloe replied calmly, but with a guilt-ridden face.
I’m not good enough. If I was at least as strong as the senior attendants... Rio was on too different of a level for her to measure accurately, but his power was at least equal to Aria. Chloe could not afford to butt in and make a fool of herself.
Haruto...
Chloe suddenly recalled the time he’d stayed at her family’s inn several years ago. At the time, Haruto had been harassed by several adult adventurers, but had defended himself with ease. Back then, Chloe could do no more than watch the quarrel take place, getting frightened by the bloodshed and commotion before distancing herself from Haruto. What took place had always left an impression on her for some reason, and she had always regretted it.
“All right...” The adventurer must have sensed something from Chloe’s shameful expression and nodded quietly.
“...Thank you. I’m sure that even Sir Haruto will need a break. We’ll be the ones to fight in his place when that happens, so please ready yourself,” Chloe stated with a serious look. No matter how much an enchanted sword could temporarily grant a person strength, once all the magic essence was depleted, the sword’s power would no longer be usable and the wielder would simply return to being a regular human.
“Okay. In that case, leave the rear guard to us,” the adventurer nodded in determination.
Meanwhile...
...How strange. Rio had an odd feeling as he fought. While he couldn’t remember the exact number of monsters he had taken down, it was easily in the hundreds. And yet—
Why won’t the minotaur and humanoid monsters move forward?
The powerful monsters that were leading the pack showed no signs of stepping forward. In fact, they didn’t look like they were going to move at all. The strength of those monsters would have been enough to burst into the city depths in one fell swoop, yet the minotaur had purposefully chosen to invade through the gates. It could have easily smashed through the wall or vaulted over it instead.
While it was convenient to have it on quiet standby as the defending side, its docileness was rather eerie.
Is it waiting for something? Rio thought.
The monsters were the ones attacking. They were savage creatures that should only have the goal of killing people, so it was assumed their intelligence didn’t extend far past that. However, the fact they had gathered an army this large to attack, and not all at once, was curious. It was almost as though —
Invading the city isn’t their goal?
But why would it do such a thing?
Aishia, has anything changed within the city? Rio asked through their telepathy. Because Aishia could sense the presence of the monsters to a degree, it was possible that she’d be able to notice any abnormalities.
Not in particular. The crowds in the square here are clearing up. Evacuation of the citizens should end soon, Aishia replied immediately.
Any changes in the monsters’ movements?
None. Both east and west have blocked off the monsters.
...I see. Thank you. I’ll try to come back soon, Rio informed Aishia after he’d noted that enough reinforcements had gathered by the road behind him. There were still monsters remaining, but he was a little worried about Celia.
Got it. I’ll contact you immediately if anything happens.
Yup. The two of them ended their telepathy there.
“Chloe!” At that exact moment, Natalie and Cosette came running from the road facing the square. They were both wearing attendant uniforms that doubled as combat gear, just like Chloe.
“Natalie! Cosette!” Chloe’s expression brightened at the sight of her reliable superiors. The soldiers and adventurers also greeted them with composure.
“Erm, damage report?” Natalie asked in confusion, noticing the scene was a lot more peaceful than she expected.
“Umm, Sir Haruto is fighting alone...” Chloe replied, looking towards the square nervously. Even at this moment, Rio was slaughtering the approaching monsters. His movements were like a nimble acrobat, seeming almost beautiful.
“...Amazing, as expected.” Cosette’s gaze was already directed towards the square, captivated by the sight of Rio fighting.
“Wow... But he should pull back soon, don’t you think? He’s been fighting for a while, right? His magic essence won’t last,” Natalie said worriedly.
“Indeed. Now that we’re here, he can retreat and rest,” Cosette agreed immediately. “Sir Haruto!”
Rio retreated to the road with perfect timing.
“Erm, I believe you’re Cosette and...”
“This is Natalie. I’m honored you remember me.” Cosette smiled happily.
“I’m Natalie, one of Lady Liselotte’s attendants. It’s nice to meet you, Sir Haruto. Thank you for your assistance in these trying times.” Natalie bowed respectfully.
“I thank you on behalf of my master.” Cosette lowered her head at Rio with a truly adorable smile.
Rio gave a short shake of his head, looking around at the monsters in the square before getting right to the point. “Not a problem. I actually have a small request.” The monsters seemed to be wary of Rio, observing from a distance.
“What is it?” Natalie asked.
“I actually made my acquaintances wait back at the inn, so they haven’t evacuated yet. I’d like to go back and meet up with them,” Rio stated succinctly.
“Is that... so...” Natalie hesitated for a moment.
It would be a hindrance to have Rio leave, as the minotaur and the unidentified monsters were still lying in wait behind the goblins and orcs. If they all attacked at once, it would be extremely difficult to defend the area.
However, Rio wasn’t a soldier or adventurer of Amande to begin with — he was meant to be a commoner with no military duties. His assistance right now was completely voluntary, so Natalie couldn’t insist that he stayed to fight.
However, Rio seemed to sense Natalie’s apprehension. “In exchange for leaving this place to you, I’ll finish off that minotaur. How about it?” he suggested as a compromise. Unlike the west gate, only one minotaur had spawned at the east gate. On top of that, there were fewer revenants than the west gate. The threat would lessen greatly if he defeated the minotaur.
“...You are a commoner, so of course. We have no reason to hold you back. But the minotaur is at the rear.”
Natalie looked closely at the minotaur waiting outside the gate. Chronologically, it would have to be defeated last. While it could be attacked with long-distance magic, the minotaur’s physical abilities would probably allow it to evade the speed of an average attack.
“No, I’ll take care of it from here,” Rio declared firmly.
“...E-Excuse me?” Natalie inclined her head in confusion at how that would be possible.
“Then... here I go.”
Rio stepped into the fray again. A bright glow enveloped the blade of his sword as he stood poised with the tip pointed at the minotaur.
“Geehee?!” The monsters were glaring warily at Rio. Then, after communicating with a shared look, they all leapt at Rio at once. “Geeheehee!”
“?!” Natalie and the others gawked. A cannonball of magic essence coated in wind spirit arts had just burst from the tip of Rio’s sword. The single shot traveled past the wall at the speed of sound.
“Geehee?!” The monsters that had leapt at Rio were blown away by the aftershock, and the cannonball of essence wrapped in wind ripped through the minotaur’s heart with precision.
“M...rogh?! Mroh...?” Even the minotaur didn’t understand what had happened. It had no time to react, finding itself kneeling to the ground. It died, just like that, crumbling helplessly.
I’ll do one more push, just in case. With that thought, Rio poured essence into his sword again. A windstorm raged from his sword. Rio closed in on the monsters at the front and slammed the storm into the monsters.
“Buhee?!” Several dozens of orcs and goblins were blown away.
“...” Natalie and the others behind her were completely stunned.
“Now, I’ll excuse myself here.” Rio turned back and bowed once, as Natalie returned to her senses with a gasp
“Y-Yes! Thank you so much!”
“...Sir Haruto is wonderful,” Cosette said vacantly to Rio, who couldn’t help but be confused.
“Huh?”
Natalie shoved Cosette away in a panic. “Geez, what are you saying?! Sir Haruto, please don’t mind this one and be along your way. Take care!”
“...Yes. The same goes for everyone here.” Rio smiled in faint amusement before rushing off to the center city where the inn was.
Meanwhile, inside Liselotte’s mansion, Hiroaki, Flora, Roanna, and Duke Huguenot had evacuated to a guest living room. Inside stood four knights as guards, including Stewart Huguenot and the elite squad commander, Raymond Brandt.
Hiroaki’s leg shook nervously while he sat on the sofa. “Ah... Is it normal for monsters to attack cities this regularly?”
“While it isn’t a regular occurence, it isn’t unheard of, either. There have been cities and towns that have been annihilated by monsters in the past,” Duke Huguenot answered calmly.
“I see...” Hiroaki heaved a dramatic sigh.
He seems to be rather worked up. The fear from the previous fight must be taking an effect. Duke Huguenot narrowed his eyes. Normally, Hiroaki would be boasting to feign confidence.
“Hmph.” Stewart huffed through his nose disparagingly as he looked at Hiroaki. He must have noticed, as he stared back at Stewart.
Realizing his mistake, Stewart cleared his throat with exaggeration. “...Excuse me. My throat was dry from nerves.”
Duke Huguenot glared at Stewart, and he averted eyes from his father in a panic. A tense air hung over the room.
Elsewhere, at the square just before Amande’s west gate, Aria aggressively lead her subordinate attendants, experienced soldiers, and adventurers against the crowded square of monsters.
“There’s just too many.”
No matter how many they defeated, the monsters kept coming in from outside the gate. There were simply too many. Aria grumbled as she calmly beheaded the orc before her.
There’s clearly more than when the monsters attacked in the forest. I’d love to clear them all up at once with large-scale magic, but I have to be careful not to run out of magic essence. Those things are waiting at the back, after all. She looked at the three minotaurs standing outside the gate.
“Guheehee.” The minotaurs were enjoying the view from afar with unpleasant grins.
But it’s baffling why they’re not invading into the city. Aria furrowed her brows in suspicion. Just like Rio, she had doubts towards the actions the minotaurs were taking. However, while Aria had the same thoughts, she couldn’t afford to move as freely as Rio. At least, not until she defeated the three minotaurs.
It’s a little risky, but I’ll have to move forward a bit more, Aria decided boldly.
“Captain Mattias,” she called out to a handsome male fighting nearby. He was in his late twenties and wearing higher quality combat clothes than the other soldiers, wielding a sword with a unique design in his hands. It was the enchanted sword Liselotte had temporarily lent him.
“What is it, Miss Aria?” The man named Mattias cut down an approaching monster easily before replying in a flirtatious tone unsuitable for a battlefield.
“It’s disconcerting how the minotaurs have showed no movement. Shall we leave this place to the others and head outside the gate to take care of them?”
“...Just you and me?” Mattias asked, seemingly taken aback.
“Yes,” Aria nodded solemnly.
“You serious?”
“This is not the time to be making jokes.”
“I figured. Well, if it’s an invitation from you, I guess so. Let’s do it. I wouldn’t want to exhaust myself here before facing those things last, anyway,” Mattias said breezily, shrugging his shoulders.
Aria was about to reply, when...
“Kshaaa!” The dark-skinned revenants that had been waiting outside the gate suddenly let out a screech.
“Shaah!” The other revenants followed, all screeching one after another.
Aria braced herself with her brow furrowed in suspicion. “...What’s going on?”
“MROOOOOH!” The minotaur let out a tremendous roar, loud enough to echo through all the areas of Amande.
“What? What is it?” Mattias asked in confusion.
“Kshaa!” The twenty or so revenants suddenly started running towards the gate all at once.
“What?!” Even Aria was taken aback by that. The revenants used their inherent physical abilities to rush inside the gate.
“Bring those down no matter what!” Aria ordered with determination. And yet...
“MROOH!”
Suddenly, the minotaurs moved too. With nimble movements unsuited for their giant size, they made a running leap over the gate and straight to the middle of the square.
Despite the panic on her face, Aria voiced her orders calmly. “Attendants, take out the revenants! Everyone else, continue to concentrate on the goblins and orcs! Captain Mattias!”
“Got it. Let’s do something about those big guys!” Mattias responded resolutely.
At the same time, at the north ramparts of Amande, Lucius and Reiss were hiding in a back alleyway.
“That’s the signal. I couldn’t hear any voices from the east, so I guess they were taken out,” Reiss muttered quietly.
“It’s finally our turn. My body’s stiff to all hell now.” Lucius said, stretching lazily.
“Let us hurry. It appears the decoy monsters will be eliminated faster than expected. The real show begins with you. I’m counting on you, Alphonse.” Reiss urged for their departure, looking at the black revenant standing near them.
“Yeah. Leave it. To me,” Alphonse said, nodding with a grin of delight.
At the same time, Rio was moving towards the inn he had stayed in before. The monsters’ attack had begun when the surroundings were still dark, but now, the sun was rising and everything was much brighter. Citizens were still evacuating through the square before the inn, but there were much fewer people than before. The large numbers of soldiers directing the evacuation were gone too; it seemed as though the evacuation had proceeded smoothly. Then, just as Rio landed in front of the inn while surveying the area, the roar of the minotaur at the west gate echoed through the city.
“MROOOOOH!”
...The voice of the minotaur at the west gate, Rio guessed correctly. The situation was changing by the moment, and it was possible that the roar just now was a sign of something worse to come
I’d better hurry. Rio thought, heading into the inn and towards his room with haste. But the door opened from the other side first, Aishia coming out to greet Rio.
“Welcome home.”
“I’m back, Aishia,” Rio replied with a smile; Celia poked her head out from behind Aishia.
“Welcome back!” she said with a gentle smile of relief.
“I’ve returned — sorry for making you wait so long.”
“No, that’s fine... But how is it outside? I saw Aria heading towards the west gate from the window, but what was that roar just now...?”
“The number of monsters at the east gate has fallen a lot, so it should be fine now. I believe the roar was a minotaur at the west gate, but if Aria’s there, then I think they’ll be well-matched.”
While Aria was could handle multiple minotaurs and revenants at an equal or higher level of combat to them, there were just too many monsters at the west gate. So he couldn’t say anything too optimistic.
“What do we do now?” Aishia asked.
“I’m thinking of going on to assisting the defense of the city and having Professor and Aishia evacuate to outside of the city.” Not wanting to cause unnecessary concern, Rio hid the strange feeling he had about the monsters and told them his next actions.
“Got it,” Aishia nodded immediately with no hesitation. Celia watched Rio’s expression and nodded anxiously.
“...Okay.”
“With the professor in a safe location, I’ll be able to fight to my heart’s content too. Can I ask this of you?” Rio addressed Celia with a troubled look. Having it put that way made it hard for Celia to refuse.
“...Okay.” Despite the worried look on her face, Celia still nodded obediently.
“Thank you. Please evacuate outside the south gate. It leads to open farmland, and there are no monsters there. I’ll accompany you partway — if the streets are empty, we can fly through the air part of the way.”
“Yup, got it.”
“Let’s get out of here.”
And so, Rio and the girls left the inn.
There were even less people in the square out front than before, but evacuating residents could still be spotted here and there. They were hurrying along, cowering from the minotaur’s roar.
“We should go too. This way.” Rio checked the sight of the evacuees before the inn and took a step towards south in order to lead Celia and Aishia.
“Haruto, monster!” Aishia exclaimed with a gasp.
“Kshaaa!” The revenant’s screech echoed through the square.
“...Sorry. I was slow to realize,” Aishia apologized guiltily.
“No, it’s fine. Your detection of them is purely intuitive. Take the professor and fall back to the inn for now,” Rio said. Thankfully, the revenants surging into the square had yet to notice their presence. However, there were people they had spotted. Just in front of them was a mother and daughter, running away from a grey-colored revenant that had targeted them.
“Eek...!” They screamed, parent and child cowering in fear.
“Rrrgh...” The revenant glared at the two with a ferocious look.
The mother, around her thirties, collapsed as her knees gave out. “Ah...”
“N-No! Don’t come closer! Go away!” The girl was around ten years old and stood before her mother resolutely.
“Mireille, run away!” The mother called out to her daughter in a panic. An unpleasant possibility crossed the back of Rio’s head; he definitely didn’t want Celia to see this.
This is bad. Rio burst into a run on reflex.
Using wind spirit arts to push himself forward and accelerate, he moved at a tremendous speed to close the distance between them in an instant.
The revenant was sent flying by Rio’s punch. “Gufuh?!” It crashed to the ground with a loud noise and rolled.
“Kshaaa?!” The other revenants in the square noticed the commotion. There were others besides the mother and daughter that had been targeted by the revenants, but all the revenants now had their attention drawn to Rio. There was a total of four of them, including the one Rio had just sent flying.
“Over here!” Rio yelled to attract even more attention to himself, drawing his sword from the sheath at his waist.
“Shaah!” With that, the revenants all attacked Rio at once. Rio charged towards the closest approaching revenant and thrust his sword through its heart, ending it in one blow.
“?!” The other two froze in shock. Rio took that opportunity to close in on one of them, once more thrusting his sword through its heart with precision. Then, once he pulled his sword out, He turned back and landed a knee-kick into the abdomen of the other one approaching from behind.
“Vuh...!” The revenant easily lifted into the air. Rio kicked off the ground and pursued its body in an instant, finishing it off in a similar single blow by stabbing it through the heart. All that was left was the one Rio punched away first.
“Vurrgh...” Rio closed in on it instantly as it staggered back to its feet, and once again, stabbed it through the heart like the others to finish it off.
He withdrew his sword. “...Phew.” With the mental fatigue kicking in, he sighed quietly.
“...T-Thank you so much!” The mother that had been watching Rio’s fight in a daze snapped back to her senses after a pause and thanked him.
“...No, I’m just glad to see you aren’t hurt. Can you stand?” Rio asked, approaching the mother and offering his hand.
“Yes, I’ll manage...” The mother grabbed Rio’s hand and hesitantly stood up.
“T-Thank you so much, mister! Mom, are you all right?” Mireille asked, running over to support her mother.
“I’m fine,” the mother replied, giving an awkward smile to reassure her daughter.
“Mom? Mireille?!”
Chloe came running in her attendant uniform. She stopped in her tracks when she spotted Rio, before her expression changed at the sight of the mother and daughter. They appeared to be family.
Chloe’s mother. Hm? That means... she’s the innkeeper from back then, huh? Rio realized the mother was the one who had managed the inn he had stayed in several years ago. He also recalled there was a little sister, though he had forgotten her name.
“U-Umm, why are my mother and sister...?” Chloe asked Rio in confusion.
“We were being attacked by monsters when this man saved us! He was really strong!” Mireille explained proudly.
“R-Really? Thank you for saving them!”
“It was nothing... But why are you here, Chloe?” Rio asked. “U-Umm, because some of the humanoid monsters got into the city, so the others went to exterminate them while I was sent to report to Lady Liselotte,” Chloe answered with a troubled look. She seemed to be in a hurry, and her explanation was sparse. Just then, other citizens started gathering nearby.
“Ooh, Li’l Chloe!”
“Are ya hurt, Rebecca?”
“Thanks a lot, boy. You really saved us.”
Everything got noisier all at once.
“Ah, umm... S-Sorry. I’m in a bit of a hurry right now. Could everyone here quickly evacuate within the north walls? If you inform the soldiers at the ramparts, I’m sure they’ll let you in.” In her rush, Chloe gave only essential instructions.
“Oh, that’s right. Okay, you get outta here, Li’l Chloe! We’ll evacuate with this boy here,” A good-natured middle-aged man said, looking at Rio.
“No, umm...” Rio had no intention of heading to the north district, so he found himself at a loss for how to answer.
“Go send them off, Haruto.” Celia said, appearing with Aishia in tow. The two of them had cloaks on top of their clothes with hoods that hid their faces.
“Cecilia...” Rio looked at Celia and frowned worriedly.
“It’s okay — you don’t have to worry about me.” Celia said to Rio apologetically. The ramparts were right before them anyway; even if he were to go there, it wouldn’t take much time to reach the entrance.
“...I understand. I’ll get going, then.”
Rio steeled himself to head towards the gate of the north ramparts.
Rio and the others arrived at the rampart gate within a matter of minutes. There were soldiers waiting before the gate, but like Chloe had said, they were allowed inside without incident.
“Phew, we can finally take a breather. Thanks again, mister.” Chloe’s little sister Mireille sighed in relief and thanked Rio once more.
“It wasn’t a big deal. All I did was walk with you.”
Honestly, all he had done was walk with them for the short distance between the square and the gate. No other revenants appeared along the way. From here onwards, it was the duty of the soldiers to protect them, so Rio’s job here was done.
“Excuse me. Firstly, thank you for escorting the citizens this far. If I may so ask, are you perhaps Sir Haruto?” One of the soldiers guarding the rampart interior asked Rio.
“...Yes, I am.” Rio nodded curiously, surprised his name and face was known by a stranger.
“So it was you after all. We were informed of your party’s appearance, so it was easy to spot you.”
“My party’s appearance?”
“Yes. The soldier took Rio aside and quietly explained things to him with a bashful glance at Celia and Aishia. “The truth is, Lady Liselotte has given us strict orders to escort you and your acquaintances to her mansion for shelter at the highest priority.” Celia and Aishia currently had their hoods lowered to speak with Mireille.
“Ah, I see.” Rio had an idea what the soldier was talking about; after all, Celia and Aishia certainly had an appearance that drew attention.
“I shall lead the way immediately, so please follow me. The mansion is the safest place right now, and both you and your acquaintances will be sheltered,” the soldier said with confidence.
Rio glanced at Celia. While he was conversing with the soldier, Mireille and the others were being led away by another soldier.
“Thank you for helping too, miss!” Mireille thanked Celia and Aishia politely before leaving.
Rio hesitated for a moment, but soon nodded his head. “...Then we shall take you up on your offer. Please lead the way.”
They had greatly swerved off course from his original plan to head outside the south gate, but it would be too unnatural to turn back now. Not to mention the possibility of encountering more revenants if they did. Taking refuge at the mansion was an acceptable alternative plan.
“Understood. Please, follow me.” The soldier bowed respectfully before taking the lead.
A short time later...
Most of Liselotte’s personnel had relocated to the temporary command post in the garden, leaving the mansion essentially deserted. The only ones that remained in the mansion were those under heavy protection, like Hiroaki and the others.
“This way.” A dark black-skinned revenant walked along confidently inside the mansion. Lucius followed along behind it. Further behind him were four less dark-skinned revenants, walking in obedient silence.
“Sure makes things easier with a tour guide. Something impossible for the enhanced revenants.” Lucius bantered casually with no sense of tension at all.
“Hmph. The guest room. Is beyond the corner. Of that corridor,” Alphonse huffed somewhat unhappily.
“Gotcha. Right, so from here on it’ll be your time to shine. Leave the princess unharmed. You can smack the hero around too, as long as you don’t kill him,” Lucius informed Alphonse without any particular concern in his voice.
“Yeah. Leave it. To me. I’m stronger. Than any minotaur. Right now,” Alphonse replied with his disjointed words.
“Ah... Is that leftover intelligence you have left, or are you just broken? Well, whatever. Get going.” Lucius scratched his head before apathetically sending Alphonse away.
“Is someone there?” A voice echoed from down the corridor, having picked up on their conversation. It seemed to be the knights on guard in front of the room.
“Yeah, there is,” Lucius replied easily, showing no panic at all.
“Who’s there?” the voice asked dubiously from down the corridor.
“Oh no, it’s nothing. I’ve just got a little bit of business to tend to before making my way back. Don’t let it worry you.”
“...Wait. Step out of there.” The presumed knight ordered down the corridor in a stern voice.
“Good grief.” Lucius sighed in exasperation before walking forwards into the corridor. There were two knights standing on guard before the door to the room.
One of the knights approached Lucius and questioned him. “An adventurer? Are you alone? You were talking to someone, no?”
“Nah no one else. Feel free to go see for yourself.” Lucius assumed a cooperative attitude, standing to the side to make way and shrugging his shoulders.
Less than a minute later, thunk went the sound of something hitting against the door of the room Hiroaki and the others were waiting in.
“...Hey, did you hear something against the door just now?” Hiroaki asked, staring at the door as he asked the others around him.
“Indeed I did,” Duke Huguenot nodded, sending an order to the knights with a look.
“Yes, sir.” There were four knights including Stewart guarding the inside of the room. One of them slowly moved to the door and opened it with a creak.
“Hey, what happened?!”
A pitch black fist came flying through the doorway. The knight was struck squarely in the face and sent flying towards the back of the room. Hitting several pieces of furniture along the way, he came to a stop with a loud crash.
“Kyaa?!” Flora, who had been sitting nearby, couldn’t help but scream.
“W-What’s going on?!” Roanna looked at the door in shock. “Ha. Ha. Ha.” The dark black-skinned revenant, Alphonse stood there and grinned eerily. Behind him were four paler black-skinned revenants.
“M-Monsters?! How could they be here?!” The other three knights — including Stewart — drew their swords reflexively.
“Go,” Alphonse ordered shortly.
“Vaah!” His subordinate revenants screeched and charged into the room. “Augendae Corporis!” The knights chanted at the same time, but the one to two seconds it took for the magic to activate were fatal. The revenants closed the gap and attacked the knights before they could finish enchanting their physical abilities.
“Shit!” The knights had no choice but to cancel their magic and swing their swords... but unfortunately, there was no way they could hurt the revenants without enhancing their physical abilities.
“They’re rock hard?!” Steel-like skin deflected the blades of their swords.
“Graagh!” The grey revenants went up one on one against the knights, grinning in delight. There were three knights and four grey revenants, which left one grey revenant and Alphonse free.
“Hey, what is the security doing?!” Hiroaki suddenly shouted at the corridor, but no one came running to save them.
“Hmph. Go.” Alphonse snorted in contempt, giving the order to the remaining revenant. It started running gleefully, charging into the back of the room to harass Hiroaki’s group.
“Shit! Head for the door! Run!” Realizing they would be cornered rats at this rate, Hiroaki ordered Flora and the others beside him before running for the door in a panic. He wasn’t just a hero for show, as his movements were clearly inhuman in speed.
“Eh, ah...” Unable to react on the spur of the moment, Flora was confused, but Roanna suddenly grabbed her by the arm.
“Princess Flora, this way!” Roanna said and ran after Hiroaki’s lead.
Thankfully, the knights were somehow managing to push back the revenants one by one. The room was spacious, leaving plenty of room for them to run between the gaps of the fights taking place.
On top of that, the leftover revenant that charged into the back of the room was just cackling to itself in delight, showing no signs of attacking them.
And so, as long as they managed to do something about the pitch black revenant camping before the only doorway in or out, they’d be able to get out. Duke Huguenot seemed to be thinking the same, following after Hiroaki behind Roanna and the others.
Their only hope was Hiroaki and his secret hero combat abilities. He had technically been on par or above with the knights in their sparring matches before. While he was fairly agitated at the moment, unlike the previous battle, he was heading for the monsters himself this time. It seemed like he wouldn’t be useless from fear this time.
“Move it! Come, Yamata no Orochi!” Hiroaki summoned his prided divine arms to his hand. With the beautiful blade in his grasp, he swung the sword at Alphonse, but Alphonse saw through Hiroaki’s movement easily and slipped right up close to him.
“Hmph.” Alphonse snorted, punching Hiroaki’s face with all his might.
“Gwoah?!” Hiroaki was easily blown to the back of the room.
“I’ve always. Wanted. To beat. This guy’s face in.” Alphonse cackled with satisfied laughter.
I-It talked?! W-What is this?! What in the world is that?! It’s so creepy! Roanna felt an instinctive sense of revulsion from the bottom of her heart at the fact the pitch black monster before her had spoken. Goosebumps crawled across her skin. The half-human-like shape of its body made it creepy already, but when it spoke human words, it was absolutely revolting.
“P-Princess Flora, get behind me...” Roanna said. She believed it was her role as a noble to become the shield for royalty. Meanwhile, Duke Huguenot was recoiling in a bad state.
“Kuh...” The knights were still fighting with the three revenants and unable to use their magic to enhance their abilities, so they were suffering quite a bit. Their breakthrough plan with Hiroaki had been flipped so easily, and there was nowhere left to run.
“You’re next. I won’t. Let you off. Easy. Understand?” Alphonse looked at Duke Huguenot intently, mouth twisting in a sinister grin.
“...What?” Duke Huguenot looked dubious. The capability to communicate meant there was a chance of mutual understanding. He suddenly wondered if they could obtain some kind of information.
“Ahaha!” But there was no time to think about that. In a single bound, Alphonse leapt upon Duke Huguenot and pummeled his fist with just the right about of power held back into Duke Huguenot’s abdomen.
“Guh. Gah... kgh...” Duke Huguenot collapsed to the floor, unable to stand the attack.
“F-Father!” Stewart’s expression changed when he realized Duke Huguenot was being attacked. He frantically swung his sword, trying to brush off the revenant he was facing. Meanwhile, Alphonse grabbed Duke Huguenot by the collar and lifted him easily off the ground.
“There’s still. More. Where that. Came from!”
“Hah, kknhh...” Duke Huguenot struggled to breathe, writhing in agony.
“Father! Move, you monster!” Stewart swung his sword desperately, moving the revenant in front of him out of his way. It let out a sinister cackle with a twisted grin.
“...No, Father! Release me!” Stewart attacked Alphonse desperately. Alphonse lightly evaded Stewart’s attack before tossing Duke Huguenot to the side roughly.
“Hee! Heehee! Oh, I know. I know.” With a pleasant smile, Alphonse turned back to Stewart.
“Shit! Die, die!”
“That. Won’t work.” Stewart swung his sword intently, but Alphonse’s inherently tough skin made his sword bounce off without a scratch.
“...Princess Flora, you at least must escape.” Roanna slowly inched towards the door, whispering to Flora quietly.
“Eh, ah... but you... but what about everyone?!” Flora’s expression changed with a gasp, showing deep disapproval.
“The physical abilities of that monster are abnormal. It’s amusing itself right now for some reason, but we’ll all be wiped out at this rate. Even if we tried to run, there’s a high possibility we’d be caught before we can use any magic. So at the very least, let us become decoys for you to get away,” Roanna said, giving a hurried but organized attempt at persuasion.
“N-No, I can’t! I can’t... that’s too...”
“Please, I beg you. If you let this chance go...” Roanna looked at Stewart in a panic.
“You monster! Monster!” Stewart had become desperate, slashing away at Alphonse, but it was clear that Alphonse was toying with him.
“Gahah. Gahahaha!” Alphonse laughed loudly, mocking Stewart. The same went for the revenants dealing with the other knights. Alphonse must have inspired them, as they were similarly laughing as they dealt with the knights.
“Damn it!” The knights facing them were pale and breathing heavily — they wouldn’t last long in this situation.
This was the only moment Flora could get away.
“Princess Flora! Princess Flora!” A voice calling for Flora could be heard down the corridor.
“Oh! Princess Flora is safe! Please help her escape!” Roanna suddenly thrust Flora towards the open doorway with all her might. Then she stood in front of the door to block it from any pursuing revenants.
“Kshaah!” The revenant at the back of the room started running towards Roanna.
“Roanna!” Flora called Roanna’s name in a panic, still in her state on the floor. Then, a man appeared from outside the room, grabbing Flora’s hand and easily pulling her into standing.
“Princess Flora, this way.”
“L-Let go of me!”
“I cannot do that. You must come this way.”
Flora objected heavily, but the man led her away from the scene without listening to her protests.
Meanwhile, Roanna used offensive magic to push back the revenants in the room.
“Photon Projectilis.”
A magic circle appeared at her hands, firing high-speed bullets of magic energy from its center. Roanna’s aim was precise and landed directly on the revenants that approached her from deeper in the room.
“Guh?!” The revenants that were hit in the body by the bullets staggered.
“There’s still more where that came from!” Roanna shot her bullets at the revenants facing the other knights. One shot, two shots, three — the bullets pummeled them mercilessly.
“Ah. Was I. Hit?” While Alphonse felt the impact, he brushed it off with a tilt of his head.
“?!” But Roanna didn’t falter; she continued hitting the revenants with her photon bullets.
“Argh!” An annoyed voice laced in furious anger echoed through the room. Roanna flinched and unthinkingly cancelled the magic she had activated.
“Ah?” The revenants attention was drawn in the direction of the angry voice. Duke Huguenot was collapsed on the floor, and the knights were exhausted. Which left —
“Yeah, I’m mad. I’m really mad now. Getting punched by those filthy hands of yours... Disgusting.” Standing there was Sakata Hiroaki.
“...You’re. Surprisingly tough. I hit you. With my full. Power.” Alphonse narrowed his eyes, impressed.
“Die, you cockroach!” Hiroaki yelled, attacking the unoccupied revenant nearby. The revenant promptly assumed a guard stance with both its arms raised, but —
“Guh?!” Its body was cleanly divided into two with a bam.
“This is total shit. Just die already,” Hiroaki said, moving to slash at the next nearby revenant in succession. His speed surpassed that of the paler black-skinned revenant, allowing him to exterminate the second one just as easily.
“Ugh, now I’m pissed off!” Hiroaki’s anger showed no signs of waning. He glared at the revenants with eyes full of loathing.
“S-Sir Hiroaki?!” Roanna’s eyes widened at the sudden change in the young man.
“Move, Roanna! I’ll kill them all!” Hiroaki yelled, charging towards Alphonse. Roanna couldn’t stand it and escaped to the side of the room.
“Grarh!” The remaining revenants attacked Hiroaki from both sides.
“Shut up!” Hiroaki swung his sword with a ridiculous stance, cutting down the revenants in a single swing. His blade was exceptionally sharp.
“What?!” Alphonse’s eyes widened in astonishment.
“You’re next, bastard! Die!” Hiroaki charged at Alphonse — the final one remaining — and gave a great swing of his sword from afar. Then, an abnormal amount of water came jetting out of the blade.
“Guh?!” Alphonse stepped back reflexively, twisting his body to evade the attack as he retreated into the corridor. Immediately, a torrent of water shot through the air. The blast of water pierced straight through the mansion wall, flying outside.
“Y-You!” Despite Alphonse’s enraged fury, he continued retreating into the corridor.
“Hold it!” Hiroaki promptly pursued him into the corridor, leaving Roanna and the other wounded men in the room. Once Hiroaki jumped out into the corridor, his eyes locked on Alphonse in the narrower space. He moved to launch another straight attack, but —
“Goodness,” a flat voice said.
“Ah?!” Hiroaki turned back toward the voice and instantly received a strong blow to the neck. His head was rocked violently, making him black out in no time at all. He fell to the floor heavily.
“Y-You’re...” Alphonse’s eyes widened in shock. Standing before him was Reiss. Sharp eyes looked down at Hiroaki from underneath his robe.
“...You, outside. Your role here is over. Go with the other revenants and buy time for Lucius to flee from here,” Reiss ordered Alphonse coolly.
“What? But...” Alphonse made to argue back.
“Just go already,” Reiss said in a hollow voice, interrupting any rebuttal.
“A-All right.”
“Good. There should be interesting prey for you outside as well. Now, I must hurry,” Reiss stated, departing from the scene promptly. Meanwhile, Alphonse headed outside the walls through the hole Hiroaki had opened up. Then, one beat later, Roanna nervously stuck her head out of the room.
“...S-Sir Hiroaki!” Upon noticing Hiroaki collapsed on the corridor floor, she hurriedly ran to him. However, once she saw he was breathing, she realized he was simply knocked out and sighed in relief.
Meanwhile, Reiss was lurking around the corner of the corridor.
Perhaps it was a mistake to call Lucius after all. While his abilities are exceptional, his ephemeral hedonism shows on his face as soon as he gets excited. He is more beast than man, really. The plan looks like it will work out, but at the cost of some needless headaches, Reiss thought as he quietly watched Roanna’s face.
That Alphonse too... The way he immediately ran to play in his excitement shows how far he is from the perfect specimen. Well, the base human was an imperfect creature to begin with, Reiss lamented.
“Well, he will be disposed of here. At least I’ll be able to measure the strength of the humanoid spirit and contractor before I leave,” he muttered before departing.
Meanwhile, a bit earlier, Flora’s hand was being pulled along by an unknown man.
“Umm, please, please let go of me! Where are you going?! We have — We have to call for help!” Flora protested at the man forcefully tugging her along while looking at the room behind her with Roanna and the others. The man was wearing a hood, hiding even his profile.
“Nah, that little lady’s already done for. She’ll be ruthlessly torn to pieces any moment now. If they weren’t playing around, it would’ve been over in ten seconds or so.” The man walking before her cackled in delight.
“Y-You... Who are you?” Flora asked fearfully. At a glance, he looked like an adventurer dispatched to protect the mansion, but something was clearly wrong. She wondered if he was taking advantage of the commotion.
The man suddenly came to a stop. “Nah, I’m not someone worth naming myself. But I suppose it’d be rude not to say in this position, so... Well, I’m human trash.” He faced Flora and temporarily removed his hood to answer with a grin, and Flora finally saw the man’s face clearly.
It was Lucius.
“U-Umm...” Flora stumbled for words.
“Ah, it was so funny earlier, I couldn’t help but watch for a bit. The good old fashioned servant-master relationship of royalty and nobility is so beautiful to see. What a wonderful scene that was indeed. I almost wanted to ruin it.” Lucius chatted away in a somewhat worked up state.
Flora was overcome with an indescribable fear and yelled in a panic. “S-Someone! Is anyone there?!”
“Hahaha, so you want to call for help? Well, be my guest.” Lucius smiled pleasantly, speaking to Flora.
“Y-You... What are you...?” Flora asked, clueless as to what Lucius’ aim was. Lucius had taken on a completely defiant attitude, making him seem so unnerving.
“Well, I’m here to kidnap you, actually. Though if I’m being honest, it doesn’t matter how I accomplish that, so I think I’ll have some of my own fun,” Lucius said indifferently.
“...I-I am your target? And you are using this chaotic situation to kidnap me?” Flora asked with a trembling voice.
“Well, to put it simply... yes. But bringing you back so easily like this is a little too boring. I’m going through all this trouble already, so I’m thinking of leaving my mark on you,” Lucius answered smoothly, grin on his face. Flora fell silent in question.
“For example, the little lady who entrusted you to me. What kind of face do you think she’ll make when she finds out she made the wrong judgement? Just imagining it thrills me,” Lucius said in an extremely flippant tone.
“...” For the first time in her life, Flora felt an indescribable sense of revulsion at the excessive wickedness in his words.
“Hahaha. For now, just seeing that expression of yours is enough. And didn’t I tell you earlier? The little lady’s done for already.” Lucius’ mouth twisted in a grin as reality sunk into Flora with despair.
“Ah — L-Let go of me, let go of me please!” Flora startled in alarm, trying once again to release herself from Lucius’ hold.
“Yet again, you...” Reiss appeared, addressing to Lucius from behind.
“Hey,” Lucius replied casually.
“Stop dawdling here and move already. The humanoid spirit has already come to the mansion. It would be bad to face that head to head,” Reiss said, sighing tiredly.
“Oh...?” Lucius’ eyes widened in interest.
“Just so you know...” Reiss started saying.
“I know, I know. I’ll head to the rendezvous point after this, so don’t worry. Just let me choose my own route, yeah?” Lucius said vaguely.
“Go, then,” Reiss sighed once more, urging Lucius away.
“You heard the man, princess. Come along now. Don’t put up a fight unless you want those beautiful legs to become severed.” Lucius put his hood on once more, then picked up Flora and threw her over his shoulder without letting in a word of protest.
“Eek — Kya?!” Flora screamed, but was bluntly ignored.
“Up we go.”
Lucius proceeded to run down the corridor, disappearing somewhere. Moments later, Hiroaki’s rage caused a cannon of water to blow a hole in the wall.
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