Chapter 55
Chapter 55
Fires blooming from all across the walls of Britain lit up the darkness.
A fishy oil stench and an indescribably subtle aura swept over us through the night.
Up until we had been in the dining hall, we had been chatting about this and that, but perhaps overwhelmed by the atmosphere of a battlefield we were facing for the first time, no one opened their mouth.
They simply followed behind me in silence as we climbed up onto the walls.
By the time we arrived there, countless soldiers and knights were already gripping their weapons, their stiff expressions burning with fighting spirit.
Every time a war broke out, countless people were injured and lost their lives.
In a situation where it could be oneself, or the person standing right beside you, it seemed remarkable that they could muster such resolve—but looking at it another way, they might be struggling desperately to prevent exactly that from happening.
“Everyone?”
Elain, who had been staring out at the battlefield with a hardened face, seemed to have heard from an approaching soldier that we had arrived.
She flinched in surprise and hurried down from the command post.
“This is difficult. No matter how much you say you’re my sister’s friends…….”
The reason she couldn’t speak firmly was probably because of me.
In fact, her gaze was fixed squarely on me.
In response, I gave a small shrug and pointed outside the walls with my chin.
“Turning a blind eye to a friend in trouble isn’t something a gentleman would do.”
“…….”
At those words, a look of utter disbelief flickered across Elain’s eyes.
It was probably something like, ‘You call them friends when you even made them sign a magical oath?’—but that was that, and this was this.
I cleanly ignored her attitude, stepped forward, and stood at the edge of the wall, gripping the parapet.
“How many monsters?”
“…According to the scouts who just returned, it looks like roughly two thousand.”
“Two thousand…….”
Someone behind me sucked in a sharp breath at the number.
Two thousand sounded manageable in words, but seeing it in reality would be a violently overwhelming sight.
Sensing the heavy atmosphere, Elain forced a smile and spoke to us.
“Well, for us this is something that happens every winter. Britain’s soldiers and knights are all veterans when it comes to fighting monsters.”
She said there was no need to worry, but the ominous air hanging everywhere was something we could feel just as vividly.
Dudududu—
At that moment, the darkness at the far end of the mountain range began to writhe, and the ground started to rumble.
The vibrations traveling up through our feet made everyone grip their weapons tightly, tension clear on their faces.
“Everyone, to your positions—!”
At the commander’s shout, the soldiers moved in perfect unison, preparing for the enemy that would soon arrive.
Elain looked at us and spoke.
“Then I’ll head back up now. It couldn’t be helped that you came this far, but please stay somewhere safe. If you were to get hurt, my sister would be saddened.”
There were various reasons—family honor being tarnished, diplomatic issues arising—but in the end, she invoked Elysia’s name to stop our advance.
When I gave a small nod to the gaze directed at me, Elain finally looked reassured, bowed politely toward us, and returned to the command post.
“M-maybe coming here was a mistake.”
Yuria, who had been at the back, spoke while cautiously watching my reaction.
Maria and Diark seemed to feel the same way, but my thoughts were different.
“This isn’t an experience you get often. And if it’s a fight against monsters, we can help too. It’s better than freeloading, right?”
At my remark that if we came to visit, we should at least pay our keep, Alice burst out laughing.
“I agree with that. Even if we’re here as guests, pretending not to see a friend in trouble doesn’t suit my temperament.”
Leysias brushed back her blonde hair and spoke with a stylish air.
“For once, you’re saying something sensible.”
“F-for once, what do you mean?!”
When I nodded with a satisfied expression, she blushed and snapped back at me.
Tsundere to the end—you really can’t help it.
“Well, even so, given the Pendragon family’s position, it’ll be difficult for us to step out onto the front lines.”
“Right. We’re support at best. Helping out from the walls wherever things look dangerous is enough. So don’t push yourselves.”
When I agreed with Werner’s words, they nodded back at me with determined eyes.
They were people of some importance; they wouldn’t die in a place like this.
We paired off in small groups and divided the sections.
Then we stood atop the walls with the soldiers and watched the approaching monsters.
“Alice.”
“Hm?”
I chose Alice as my partner.
Compared to the other parties, it was excessive firepower, but it was necessary.
As she sat perched on the wall, lightly swinging her legs while watching the monsters, I spoke to her.
“You and I have separate roles.”
“I figured as much.”
Alice hopped down and stood beside me, brushing dust from her hips and smiling with an intrigued expression.
“You go back to where the other parties are and make sure they don’t end up in danger. Avoid intervening if possible, but back them up if it looks like they’ll get hurt.”
“…You want me to play babysitter?”
Apparently it wasn’t what she had been expecting to hear, because she quickly frowned.
I pointed off to the side with my thumb and spoke.
“Haven’t you grown a bit attached? If those guys die, it won’t exactly feel good.”
“…And you?”
“I have a guest to receive for a moment.”
“A guest?”
“There may be two thousand monsters, but breaching Britain’s walls is almost impossible. For something meant just to cause chaos, the scale is pretty big, don’t you think?”
Which meant there was something else they were aiming for.
At my words, Alice narrowed her eyes as if she had caught on.
“The ones who destroyed the teleport gate.”
“The same ones who slipped past our eyes and infiltrated Camelot Palace. If fighters of that caliber run wild inside, even Britain, which prides itself on its impregnable defenses, won’t be able to avoid danger.”
What’s more, Britain’s greatest force—King Arthur and his elite knights—were currently absent.
It was the perfect timing for an assault.
If those guys had a purpose, they would charge in with everything they had, without regard for consequences.
“…You’re hogging all the fun parts for yourself.”
“Mind watching my back?”
I gave a light smile to the sulking Alice and turned my body.
I could hear her grumbling behind me, but in the end, she would follow my request.
Whatever the case, she was a good one.
“Alright, then.”
I lightly placed my hand on the sword at my waist.
Since leaving Camelot Palace, an aura different from the murderous intent of the monsters flooding the battlefield had been stimulating me.
It was so subtle that even Alice, the most skilled aside from me, hadn’t sensed it.
At the very least, they were no amateurs.
Moving quietly through the soldiers running about with crates full of arrows and stones, I made my way down from the wall we had climbed with the others.
The clamor from just moments ago faded into a deceptive stillness.
Using the two moons floating in the sky as landmarks, I traced back along the tail of the aura that had been pricking at my senses.
“…A teleport gate, huh.”
I remembered it as the gate connecting the imperial capital Polfoardel to Britain.
But its circular form was nowhere to be seen, shattered so thoroughly it looked as if it had been hit by a bombardment.
Two figures stood atop the wreckage.
Like something out of a stereotypical mastermind scene, both were wrapped in thick robes.
One was a hulking giant nearly three meters tall, while the other had a build similar to mine.
-So it’s you.
The one who spoke first was the brutishly large giant.
With a hearty motion, he threw off his robe and stepped forward heavily.
Thud—
“Ho.”
A smooth crimson surface reflected the moonlight, gleaming brilliantly.
It looked like armor a samurai from Japan’s Warring States period might wear.
Separate from the two arms at his sides, six more arms spread wide from his back like those of a Thousand-Armed Buddha.
The massive pressure pouring from his entire body bore down on me threateningly, as if he might crush me at any moment.
“Do you know me?”
Keeping my hand on the hilt of my sword, I asked lightly.
The lizardman-like creature snorted hot breath through his nose and opened his mouth.
-I am a member of the elite annihilation unit under His Excellency, the Supreme Commander of Combat of the Demon King’s Army—Rammas of Annihilation-!
Rammas of Annihilation.
“Annihilation” was one of the elite units under the Archdukes of Hell.
Rammas must have been his name.
I didn’t recall hearing it before.
Probably not a particularly important character.
Thud.
-Hearing that you were a human His Excellency had taken an interest in, I had some expectations, but to think you’d have such a face. Truly pathetic-!
Rammas’s entire body swelled as if about to burst.
His muscles bulged grotesquely, the armor covering them shifting and creaking, until he had evolved into a massive form nearly five meters tall.
-Die!
Judging by the monotonous dialogue, he really did seem like a disposable extra.
Bang-! Bang-!
Still, his power couldn’t be ignored.
Each step he took collapsed the ground, destroying the surroundings.
He seemed like the perfect character for clearing out riffraff—so simple-minded that it wouldn’t matter whether he existed or not.
As his fist slammed down toward the ground, I kicked off lightly and leapt into the air.
The spot where I had been standing exploded into fragments, cracks spiderwebbing through it as if a meteor had struck.
I couldn’t help but click my tongue at that brute destructive power.
-Uahahahaha! Running around like that, you look like a rat! How long do you think you can keep dodging!
The reason I hadn’t made a move yet was because the other one standing nearby bothered me more than Rammas.
This attack wasn’t part of the original plan.
If possible, I wanted to minimize variables—but he didn’t seem inclined to move.
Whenever I tried to approach that side, he noticed first and widened the distance.
It seemed he had no intention of fighting until Rammas was dealt with.
“Then I suppose I’ll oblige.”
Shing.
As I lightly drew my sword, Rammas let out a mocking laugh, as if asking whether I was finally done struggling.
I let a sharp blue aura bloom at the tip of my blade, gathered it into my left hand, and aimed it at him.
Sword Saint Style Secret Art Star Cluster.
Dozens of beams of light burst forth from the tip of my sword.
Rammas, charging toward me, saw it and briefly made an “uh-oh” expression, but trusting in his own toughness, he didn’t stop and threw his body forward.
And then.
Slice.
Dozens of slashes carved through his body.
Each time the blue sword light flashed, crimson blood bloomed like flowers against the darkness.
When those blossoms fully opened, Rammas collapsed to the ground, having passed right by me.
Thud.
It was an empty ending compared to his dramatic entrance.
Splash.
The ground was quickly soaked with the blood pouring from his body.
Stepping forward once atop it, I raised my sword and aimed its tip at the other one, who hadn’t even flinched despite his comrade’s fall.
“Now it’s your turn.”
So if you don’t want to die, take off that robe right now and lie face-down on the ground.